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Remembered Today:

Help with a German Name Please


seaforths

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Well, guys, you´re right with Vizewachtmeister. My fault. A mounted Feldwebel is a Wachtmeister (as well as Vize...)

Skat is the most favourite card game in germany:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skat_%28card_game%29

I think, 99% of the man is explained.

Vizewachtmeister Opitz, february 1915 west of Dünaburg (engl.: Daugavpils ) in service with train (also ammo-columns), pioneer or field-artillery.

Trajan, it´s not foot-artillery. The heavy artillery had brandenburg cuffs (three buttons vertical), he´s got swedish cuffs (two buttons horizontal)

If the pig-tail was used as a corkscrew, it might have been a pretty large bottle... :D

Here are some of them in use (another kind, but the same use)

post-35295-0-93134500-1463671959_thumb.j

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Well, guys, you´re right with Vizewachtmeister. My fault. A mounted Feldwebel is a Wachtmeister (as well as Vize...)

Skat is the most favourite card game in germany:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skat_%28card_game%29

I think, 99% of the man is explained.

Vizewachtmeister Opitz, february 1915 west of Dünaburg (engl.: Daugavpils ) in service with train (also ammo-columns), pioneer or field-artillery.

Trajan, it´s not foot-artillery. The heavy artillery had brandenburg cuffs (three buttons vertical), he´s got swedish cuffs (two buttons horizontal)

If the pig-tail was used as a corkscrew, it might have been a pretty large bottle... :D

Here are some of them in use (another kind, but the same use)

Thanks Prussian! Yes, Skat... Never understood it when invited once to the Stamm Tisch at Hitzacker an der Elbe - probably explains why I was soon dropped from that exalted ensemble!

Also, thanks for the Brandenburg cuffs versus Swedish - useful to know in this context (and hope I remember!)

As for corkscrews, well, 19:06 here and so that is a good idea! :thumbsup:

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To make it more confuse... here are a few cuff examples...

Well, Trajan, Skat is quite complicated. I learned it, when I was 5 or 6 and I still love to play!

post-35295-0-94700300-1463676010_thumb.j

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Could "i/Ba" be "i/Sa"? The name that interests me is Delitsch, which only has a few entries in the Verlustliste; there is also Delitzsch with a few more. It seems that most of the men with these surnames were from Sächsen (Saxony).

My goodness. Thank you all for your help. First thing, an apology from me. I was using British reference to the area he is in later, as Elsass but actually I think Baden. One of the images has a caption i/Ba - I think is a reference. I could work out the ranks - I have come across those abbreviations before, but I could not work out all names Opitz and Raabe and I only got Opitz from another caption where the capital letter 'O' is identical and knew the location it refers to - I'll not say any more as I'm jumping ahead of myself and time is not on my side this morning. Blank - I had trouble with and read it as Blau? wasn't sure of the final letter.

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Could "i/Ba" be "i/Sa"? The name that interests me is Delitsch, which only has a few entries in the Verlustliste; there is also Delitzsch with a few more. It seems that most of the men with these surnames were from Sächsen (Saxony).

Could "i/Ba" be "i/Sa"? The name that interests me is Delitsch, which only has a few entries in the Verlustliste; there is also Delitzsch with a few more. It seems that most of the men with these surnames were from Sächsen (Saxony).

No, it was my mistake from earlier post when I said Elsass when I looked at the locations mentioned in captions one had i/Ba. I thought it was initially a possible regimental reference but when I saw where it was, I then figured no not Elsass but Baden - that's what it refers to. I'll be on the PC in about an hour and put up more East Front. I hadn't spotted his spurs in the snow photograph - that was very observant. There are some group photographs that might be helpful because they are of better quality than the ones I posted last night... Two of them I believe all or mostly officers and the other is of men - still East Front.

I have scanned them already last night but as the bucket was not behaving, I didn't get any further. The locations are sometimes referred to by the British as Elsass and that is where I made my my mistake (by repeating that information) but the locations for Baden are: Oetlingen and Haltingen. I have done quite a bit of research on the latter as it had a camp and Herr Opitz I can see from the photographs, was clearly there but as a visitor or transferred to the staff - that I do not know. Certainly, I have a letter that was sent from a German nurse (nothing to do with the album itself) who was from nearby Loerrach (her letter was intercepted) but it showed that she visited, saw and wrote about the (Roumanian) prisoners in the camp. Only one image of Oetlingen it is a view photograph no-one in it but it shows he was in that area and it is one of these images that has the i/Ba. Again, I am getting ahead of myself and we may see what clues the other East Front images give.

It was some time ago that I researched Haltingen and during that research that I was able to get the album to add to my research but I don't want that to detract from this because this is about finding out, or trying to find out a little about the man himself and maybe what happened to him (I already know what happened at the camp).

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Okay, continuing from last night and the image in the snow, there is another photograph of some buildings in the snow but the quality of the image is not great. It does however have this caption:

img009a_zpsvtc9jj1f.jpg

So we know from that how long he was there. Next and unfortunately, two images that have no captions:

img004a_zpsitcn71ri.jpg

img010a_zpsinvft09g.jpg

This image has a simple caption and the same location:

img013c_zpslyhysyo9.jpg

img013a_zpswxnolfyq.jpg

I will try to put up more but the bucket is only slightly more cooperative than last night. But more examples of the word and use of the capital 'S' in Siesta - very similar now.

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Smelina it is. Most of the references that I can find about this place deal with the fighting that took place there end of September, apparently involving the 108. infanterie-Division. But I also found this:

Die 14 Tage in Wilna waren natürlich ausserordentlich nett. Es war grimmig kalt, Dienst wurde nur am Vormittag gemacht. Das Sturmbataillon hatte sich dort ausserhalb der Stadt einen grossen Übungsplatz angelegt, wohin wir täglich mit Lastautos gefahren wurden, um uns den Betrieb anzusehen. Man schrieb sich alles Wissenswerte auf und war von Mittag an Herr seiner Zeit. Im ganzen waren wir inklusive der Stabsoffiziere etwa 40 Offiziere und assen gemeinsam im Kasino. Tischältester war der Oberst Freiherr von Reitzenstein, der in Smelina die gesamte Artillerie kommandierte und der sich nun hier, ledig aller Dienstsorgen, als ein urgemütliches Haus entpuppte. Es wurde Abends immer unheimlich gesoffen und die Offiziere des Kursus stellten, wenn nicht ganz Wilna, so doch jeden Abend das „Kathrinchen“ auf den Kopf.

http://feldgrau.pytalhost.com/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-14626.html

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The first photo is interesting. We see swedish cuffs,brandenburg cuffs and guard-cuffs. That indicates a staff. Probably staff of XXXIX.Res.Korps.

Has Oberst Freiherr v. Reitzenstein something to do with "our" man?

I know the article in our german forum, but there is Wilna mentioned. That´s 174km away from Smelina.

But I found Smelina (now: Smelyne) and I found another map from spring 1916

We see, 37.Inf.Div., 77.Res.Div. under command of XXXIX.Res.Korps.

So I assume, Opitz served in the staff of the XXXIX.Res.Korps.

Oberst (later Generalmajor) Freiherr Maximilian v. Reitzenstein commanded the 77.Reserve-Feldartillerie-Brigade (24.12.1914-??.??.1917), which belonged to the XXXIX.Res.Korps

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XXXIX_Reserve_Corps_%28German_Empire%29

That brigade was under command of the 77.Res.Div.

Please show us the i./Ba or i./Sa. Maybe he was wounded and came to a hospital in Baden (that would be unusual that he was sent from the eastfront to Baden...)

We need to see all informations you have; dates, names, abbreviations.


Smelyne is the red spot bottom left

post-35295-0-03429500-1463715017_thumb.j

post-35295-0-03678800-1463715051_thumb.j

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I believe finding out more about this Freiherr von Reitzenstein will contribute to determining the reason why Vizew. Opitz would have been stationed in Smelina, and/or at least who some of these men in the could be.

This seems to be him from the Ehrenrangliste (p715 - "Wiederverwendete inaktive Offiziere: Oberstleutnant aD"):

Frhr. v. Reitzenstein* (Fuß-AK 3)

3. GFuß-AK.

* = served in 1870/71 war

This is probably him:

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=105640

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No Ken. That´s Albin. Maximilian was the artillery-commander in Smelina.

Maximilian came from the 1.westphalian Feldart.Rgt.7 (Ehrenrangliste p. 477), and commanded the 239.Inf.Div. by end of war.

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Fantastic - Smelina now Smelyne.

I spent some time last night finishing the images of 1916. I had skipped some out of sequence from 1917 and I will return to those later. I got caught up in trying to get a better image of a cross. There is a young man in what seems to be a cemetery but much of the cross is obscured and I have not been able to improve on it very much. Even turning it into a negative (which sometimes helps) is not making it any better. . Images I have not posted are of a more personal kind for they are the 'Papa' captions. He is on a horse, in another he is with horses and hugging a foal. Maybe it is not quite a foal but a little older than that. My equestrian knowledge is limited to giddy-up and whoaa :D He is seen looking at a couple of men fetching water/wood. He seems to be posing for the picture or just going about his duties, wearing his sword. Another image, which does look like it has been cut from a postcard simply captioned 'A Russian Church'. I have been trying to place the church but not successful so far. Perhaps it no longer exists. Then, still in 1916 the parade and the monument being unveiled etc. If it is Herr Opitz taking the photographs, he is standing close to the officers, who are viewing it from an embankment or perhaps they created a platform for them. These are very small photographs only 2 inches high and 3 inches wide but all are very well and hopefully reliably captioned. It is very likely though, that the next images might tell more of the story because of the captions.

I am trying to get them into the correct sequence because they are not entered in the correct order. A few from 1917, as I said earlier in the middle of 1916. Another one is puzzling me which I left last night because it was so late as I was trying to work out which year it belongs. In the album it shows as being at the end of the last 1916 images before it goes back to 1917 images so I think it might not be out of place after all.

I think he was in Baden for promotion - would he go there on a course for training? Or following his promotion if he was transferred? - I wonder...

I had to work until 8pm last night but I get an earlier finish today so hopefully, I will get more done and now I have to go.

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Best made plans of mice and men etc. not the early start I had hoped for...There is an image that is a view of scrubland, trees and wire coils can be seen several yards deep under that image - this caption which I am struggling with:

img016a_zpsnwutgqvo.jpg

The young man in what appears to be a small cemetery or burial site here:

img017c_zpsjtcosz5l.jpg

and the caption for that is here:

img017a_zps406evdh2.jpg

Unfortunately, I have tried and been unable to improve the cross itself to make it more readable. There is another cross to the left of it but it either has no inscription or it is too poor to see. It is a bigger cross but there is absolutely no sign of any inscription but I am wondering if it is because it is facing away from the camera. I can't make out what the young man has in his hands only the bottle tucked under his arm. If you look at where his hands are, there is also man in the background - at a distance.

More to follow shortly...

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Oh I don't believe it! The darned site crashed my browser - yet again tonight. I came back and posted more images, it crashed again for a second time and this time wiped out one forum post plus two more images and I was part way through another and managed to get only one image up when it went down again. I will try and reconstruct it all again. The air is beginning to turn a little blue here - cover your ears!

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Ok what I said that has now been wiped out is that, there is definitely writing on the other side of some of these images. These ones are very small only 2 x 3 inches but because there is a lot of white space in them at the top (sky) what cannot be seen with the naked eye can be seen with them scanned. I tried again with an image peeling it back carefully on a corner and I can see writing. I hope that what is written has been copied into the captions accurately. I hit the same problem as before - taking it too far started to pull the surface of the card away with the image so I did not continue.

These are the parade images. The first one is not so good. The officers are close to the camera but their backs are turned totally but the caption for that image is this:

img018a_zpsh7gjbty4.jpg

I Reg 3A ??

Edit: sorry, trying to remember all I had written before it was wiped out. In this image the officers saluting and a body of men firing a volley into the air. Another officer on a mound/platform standing with his head bowed.

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This is a slightly better image for the officers who do not have their backs totally to the camera. Unfortunately, there is a little damage to the photograph as it seems there has been a drop of water or liquid onto it:

img019b_zpsn1qsxizo.jpg

The caption below this image reads:

img019a_zps4hqzdur8.jpg

And this is what led me to think that our man was perhaps 9 Grenadiers. Can you see the traces of writing in the sky?

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Here are the next lot of images that were wiped out earlier. In the first of the parade images (that I did not show the photograph of) the man on the platform/mound had his head bowed while the volley was fired and officers saluted. Here he has his head up and can be seen much better. At this point, the monument is still covered with a tarpaulin or sheet:

img020c_zps3ppxvmyh.jpg

and the caption here:

img020a_zps2mygyuda.jpg

Oberst v. Derschau?? Who would that be?

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Sorry these are coming through in dribs and drabs - it seems to be behaving now but don't trust it not to bomb me out again... The next image is just of the monument after it has been unveiled and again, another reference to 9 Grenadier Regt:

img021b_zpsugwyq53m.jpg

Caption for this image here:

img021a_zpsjxbzwr0p.jpg

That's it from me for this evening. I can't believe it took me 2 hours to get 7 images here! After the first post, all seemed good and I thought I would get much more done. The initial success was short lived. I'm now beginning to wonder how 9 Grenadier Regt fits into all of this was it just that Herr Opitz path crossed with them at some point and nothing more than that?

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Good morning!

Oberst v. Derschau was commander of Gren.Rgt.9 from 17.10.1915-15.4.1916, then from 15.4.1916-10.7.1918 Chief of Staff of Armee-Abteilung Woyrsch.

#41: maybe "serial Number Z or 3 A"? No idea - just a guess...

#42: "Parademarsch des Gren.Rgt.9 bei der Einweihung"

#43: "Ansprache von Herrn Oberst v. Derschau bei der Einweihung des Gedenksteins bei Siemikowce"

#44: "Gedenkstein der gefallenen Soldaten des Grenadier-Regiments Nr. 9, Siemikowce 1916"

Einweihung des Gedenksteins: Opening cerenomy of the memorial-stone

The Gren.Rgt.9 in that time (15.1.1915-December 1918) was attached to 6th Guard Inf.Brig. (3rd Guard Inf.Div.)

The division was attached to the Südarmee.

The major battles were:

9.4.15: Zwinin

11.-17.5.15: Carpathians

18.5.-3.6.15: Styri

4.-9.6.15: Gallicia

7.7.-27.8.15: Zlota-Lipa

28.8.-5.9.15: Sereth

6.-16.9.15: Tarnopol

17.9.-5.11.15: East-Gallicia

6.11.15-10.8.16: Strypa,between Wosuszka and Sereth

In most of the battles austrian troops fought too.

That´s why we see austrian officers of the parade-photo.

The monument stands (stood?) in Siemikowce. The battle of Siemikowce was from 30.10.-5.11.1915. The Gren.Rgt.9 fought there with the Südarmee. Eganged too were the austrian corps Hofmann and the 38.Honvéd Division

Honvéd: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Hungarian_Honv%C3%A9d

I can´t read the place in #38. Maybe Brzezany? That was a town, where the Südarmee fought.

The battle of Siemikowce was at the end of 1915, v. Derschau commanded the regiment until april 1916. All men wore coats, to the photo must have been taken in the first months of 1916, like the photos of Mr. Opitz.

But the distance between the Armee-Gruppe Scholtz and the Südarmee is roundabout 1000km!!! Siemikowce now is called Semykivtsi

I can´t see a link between Mr. Opitz in Dünaburg and the battles of the Südarmee at the same time! Maybe you´ve got a collection of two different men?

post-35295-0-13763800-1463805642_thumb.j

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Map

post-35295-0-49755300-1463805078_thumb.j

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#41: I'd say the presumed "I" is simply part of the paper. I read it as "H. nr. 3A", perhaps Haus nr. 3A?

Roel

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Maybe it helps, if we could see the photo attached to "3A"?

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I'd say S. Nr. 3A.


The "frische Soldatengräber" should be in Bryssic or someplace alike.

Jan

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The inauguration of the cemetery in Siemikowce happened on 10 February 1916.

I don't see an officer with the name of Opitz in the regimental history around that date.

Jan

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