German Units

[Conor Dodd]

I have a fair idea of what these German Memorial cards say but was wondering if any one could tell me anymore about the units they were in on the dates in question and if they have a grave ?

Conor

[Jack Sheldon]

Conor

You will have to re-post No 2 because it has not come out. The first one reads: 'In devout remembrance through prayer of the respected and virtuous young man Herr Joseph Schmidmeyr, son of a smallholder from ?gertsheim (must be a small place near to Ingolstadt north of Munich). Sapper in the 1st Company of the Royal Bavarian Engineer Regiment, who died a hero's death in the first flush of youth at the age of 22 and a half on 1st July 1916, fighting for the honour and freedom of our Fatherland'

'Rest in peace, brave warrior

It was the Lord who called out to you

Now you should be carrying (aloft) the palm of victory

Up there with the heavenly host.'

Holy Father Joseph and friend of the Sacred Heart of Jesus intercede for him.

On 1st July 1st Coy KBPiR was subordinated to IR 169 at Serre. It was commanded by Hauptmann Stahlmann; the other company combat officers were Leutnant Stumpf and Oberleutnant Wehrauch Its ration strength was 4 offr, 246 ORs and 30 horses and its fighting strength 3 + 226 According to the war diary it was split up throughout IR 169, apart from two sections located down towards the Heidenkopf with RIR 121. Two sappers seem to have died from this company that day. One was killed when a heavy mortar round hit smashed the entrance to a dugout and the other was killed by German artillery fire during the day. One officer who was killed during the day was taken back to Miraumont for burial, but it is not clear if this happened to the two dead sappers. Schmidmayr does not seem to have a grave cared for by the German War Graves Charity; there is a chance that he was repatriated to Bavaria after the war, but the odds are that he like about 75% of all of them has no known grave

Jack

[Conor Dodd]

Thank you for the information that is great didn't realise the regiment he was in.

Conor

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Hello Conor,

Your second man was part of the 17th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment and was killed while digging a fire trench, possibly from sniper fire, artillery or just random fire. Two others were killed that night and an unknown number of wounded.

The regiment was in line near Aubers at the time.

Ralph

[Conor Dodd]

Could you tell me if this is a correct translation my German is only averadge and they only teach you how to catch trains in school !

Pray for the memory of the young seed, Herrn George Meier, (this bit I don't know) Infantryman in the 17th Bavarian Reserve Regiment, 10th Company ???, Who on the 23/04/1915 in North France at the age of 23 years whilst digging a fire trench died a heroes death for the fatherland.

Conor

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Conor, Your version is correct. I do not know what his occupation or designation is either, I need to check some older dictionaries. He is from the village of Ed in Bavaria.

Ralph

[Jack Sheldon]

Here's another contribution to the understanding of the second card. It reads something like: 'In devout, prayerful memory of that virtuous young man Herr Georg Meier, son of a farmer (possibly a land steward or estate manager) of Ed (probably a hamlet or small village near to Augsburg in Bavaria), a private soldier in 10th Coy (ie. 3rd Battalion) of the Royal Bavarian 17th Reserve Infantry Regiment, who died a hero's death for the fatherland in northern France on 23rd April 1915, whilst digging a trench. May he rest in peace! Honour his memory! ' This is followed by calls for various forms of intercession, then the verse beneath his picture reads ( approximately):

You were a good soldier in the war

Until the [trumpet call] of victory sounded

[And called you] to eternal victory on high -

There where 'Das Heilig'* rang out as the anthem of victory

There you, fully prepared for the final journey, ascended obediently.'

* 'Das Heilig' is beyond me. It was obviously a colloquial abbreviation for a well known prayer, anthem or hymn. 'Heilig' means holy or sacred as an adjective, but here a noun is implied. If it was just 'Das Heilig' it would mean 'the sacred or holy object', but if that is the case why use inverted commas? Perhaps there was an anthem called 'Das Heilige Land' (The Holy Land), because other possible obvious candidates, say Holy Father or Virgin Mary, would be either masculine or feminine.

I hope someone who is either more religious or a better German scholar than me can come to our assistance!

Jack