German units locations

[CROONAERT]

A bit of a mix and match question this....

Could somebody please tell me the (rough) locations of the following German units at the dates specified ?

R.J.R. 259 on the 10th October 1916.

L.J.R. 94 on the 27th May 1918.

R.J.R. 222 on the 30th August 1918.

J.R. 109 on the 29th October 1916.

J.R. 53 on the 4th July 1918.

and (the "biggie"!)

J.R. 15 between 14th April 1917 and 30th October 1918.

Thanks ,in anticipation,

Dave

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Hello Dave, Here is my best shot at answering your inquiry.

RIR 259 10 October 1916. From the History of 251 German Divisions....the 78th Reserve Division (259th RIR) was positioned in the Illukst (region of Dvinsk during the entire year 1916 and up to April 1917.

L.I.R. 94 on 27 May 1918. 255th Division. At that time it was on the left banl of the Moselle River (Le Petre Wood) and remained there until September 1918 when U.S. forces attacked.

RIR 222 on 30 August 1918. 48th Reserve Division. Throughout August and September 1918 this division held the sector southwest of Gavrelle.

IR 109 on 29 October 1916. Beginning of October the 28th Division was sent to Champagne into the sector east of Tahure. Left it about the 20th. On the 29th the regiment occupied the trenches in front of Somme-Py on the Butte de Souain.

IR 53 on 4 July 1918. 50th Division. The 251 German Division book mentions this division being relieved on June 12/13 and going into rest quarters in the Laon region. It was next in line on 19 July. From what I can see the period you are looking for would be easier to locate with the regimental history.

I hope this helps a bit.

Now for my question if I may, why are you looking for this information? Seems to be a wide variety of units as well as dates, any special purpose?

Ralph

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

It would seem that I left out the biggest one yet and after discovering an error I had to make some changes. The 15th I.R. between 14 April 1917 and 30 October 1918.

Through the middle of May 1917 the regiment was in position on Hill 304 near Verdun. Relieved and sent to the Aisne where it remained in rest for 3 weeks near Laon. 9 June 1917 took over sector of Cerny, 31 July attacked at the Deimling Salient but was unsuccessful. Repeated attack 2-3 August, still no success.

The division was relieved and sent to the St. Gobain area and went into line in the Deuillet-Servais sector where it remained until 17 September. Sent to the area of Crepy en Laonnois 20 September to 11 October. 11 October into line on the Chemin des Dames east of Laffaux mill. Suffered heavily in French attacks and sent to the Sedan area for rest.

18 December sent to sector of the Bois de Malancourt-Haucourt and was reported to be still there until 23 January 1918. Relieved from the Verdun area about 6 February and moved to Arlon. After 15 February at Valenciennes and Mons. Marched to the Somme, involved in March offensive attacking towards Roisel. 28 March in reserve at Morlancourt, 4 April returned to the front and fought at Dernancourt. Relieved 11 April.

Rested 10 days near Maricourt-Carnoy until the 18th and Caix until the 22nd. Returned to the line 23 April near Avre. Relieved 18 May. Division rested near Montcicier in June, probably atr Moreuil. 1 July sent to area northeast of Villers-Bretonneux, thrown back by British attack to Mericourt. Division withdrawn and sent to Alsace for rest. Moved into line at Monthois-Challerange 30 September until 3 October, went into support near Morel till the 8th. In support between Landres-Saint George and Bantheville on 15 October and engaged U.S. troops on 16 October in Nantheville region. In the line until the 30th.

I hope this helps a bit.

Ralph

[CROONAERT]

Thanks for all that, Ralph. It was exactly what I was looking for.

To answer your question, the reason behind my enquiry is that I have just been cross-referencing the German Erkennungsmarken (1915-1917 patterns)in my collection with the Kriegsgraberfursorge's listing of war dead.The regiments I've asked about contain "possible" casualties on the dates mentioned, so I just wanted to see if the "possible" casualties' locations on the day they died tied up with the place of their burial, therefore "semi"- confirming the original owner of the tags.

Dave.