German Jaegers

[nr369]

Hi all,

Would anyone have any info on where I can find any records of the German Jagers? Or does anyone know of any good books, documents, reviews, articles, etc. etc. on the subject.

Cheers.

[Paul Hederer]

Hi all,

Would anyone have any info on where I can find any records of the German Jagers? Or does anyone know of any good books, documents, reviews, articles, etc. etc. on the subject.

Cheers.

Hello,

If you read German "Das Ehrenbuch der grünen Farbe," by Arthur Rehbein is a fine source.

Paul

[Jack Sheldon]

If you can refine your question a little, there are some of us who can probably help you. There are surviving archives relating to some of the Jaeger battalions in Germany and they are also mentioned in book such as Imperial German Army 1914-18 by Hermann Cron, but I do not personally know of any book in English which covers this topic specifically - which does not mean one does not exist.

Jack

[nr369]

Ok, re-define....

Basically I was hoping to get pointed towards books, articles, archives that would house records, etc. (or any other advice you might have would be super), for the 28th Battalion Royal Prussian Jagers. As far as I know they served on the Eastern Front, but I was hoping to learn in what actions they participated, where they trained - so a history of the battalion.

Thanks.

[Jack Sheldon]

I am sorry, but I shall have to put a couple more questions to you. Can you name any other unit or formation with which your battalion was grouped? Are you certain that it was a Jaeger battalion? The answer to the first will help to pin down where on the Eastern Front it served and the second because I have a complete listing of all Jaegers and similar battalions and the highest number belongs to Reserve Jaeger Battalion 22 of 103rd Infantry Division which did, by the way, spend one year in the East. These lists are not infallible so I am not casting doubt on your story, but one thing I can say is that if it existed, it does not have a published history and there are almost no divisional ones.

If the formation was actually Infantry Regiment 28 of 16th Infantry Division then it spent the winter and spring 1916 - 1917 in the east. If it it was Reserve Infantry Regiment 28, it spent Jul - Nov 1917 in the east. If it was Ersatz Infantry Regiment 28, it was in the east from summer 1916 when 197th Infantry Division was raised, through to February 1918. Each of these formations has a history.

Jack

[nr369]

Hi Jack,

Thanks for all that info. However, I was informed that the unit was certainly a Jager one, and was named the 28th Royal Prussian Jager Battalion. Unfortunately, as info on them is hard to come by, I don't know what unit of formation it would have been grouped under. As far as I'm aware, there was also a 27th Bn, recruited from Finnish volunteers and this is well documented. These Finns trained in Lockstedt at some point, and what I've learned seems to suggest that while they were receiving their training in this camp, the 28th Bn were there also.

Also, it seems that these Finns (along with other German Jagers) served in the Baltic at some point, and that the 28th Bn were with them. Maybe, if you can find a reference to a group of Jager battalions that served in the Baltic, and one that included the 27th, that this might help pin down what the 28th Bn was invloved in.

Perhaps you might be able to point me towards info on Lockstedt at the time, and who and what passed through their training grounds? Where might such records be kept? Or you might have info on Jagers in the Baltic?

Thanks.

[Jack Sheldon]

I have done some more digging, but so far it is all negative information. I checked out the Alpenkorps and the Ostsee-Division, both of which had a lot of Jaeger involvement and operational duty in the east in 1918 but I can still find no trace of your battalion. I have, however, come across a Bavarian Jaeger Regiment 29, so there clearly were some high numbers doing the rounds. I shall keep checking but am running out of ideas; let us hope someone else comes in on this one.

Jack

[nr369]

Many thanks. It's much appreciated. Hopefully you find something, or maybe someone else out there knows something...

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

I too have been checking but so far no mention at all of this unit. Just a thought...is it possible the source or listing you have shows a designation of J.R. 28? If so it is most likely Infantry Regiment 28. Can you share your source?

Ralph

[Paul Hederer]

Hello,

Me too, I have nothing on this battalion. Can you tell us what source you have mentioning they fought on the Eastern Front and with that unit designation?

This question is beginning to ring a bell--someone was asking about this exact subject on a forum..hmm, perhaps here.

Paul

[nr369]

Jack - where exactly did you find the reference to the 29th Bavarian Jaeger's? The source would be very much appreciated.

Ralph and Paul - the source is an article that I read years ago (and stupidly lost in the meantime) about a battalion of Jaegers numbered 28 who trained and served alongside the Finnish 27th battalion at Lockstedt before serving in the Baltic along with other Jaeger units.

My interest in the whole thing stems from the fact that, like everyone else, I can't find any reference to this battalion, although the article I read made a good few references to it. I suppose, if there was a 29th, then it makes sense that there was a 28th. Altough they've certainly dropped off the radar. I'd just be interested to know what actions of the war they were involved in.

Just to go back to the Baltic, can anyone tell me if there were any actions involving large numbers of Jaegers that would be worth looking into, or better yet, since the 27th and 28th seemed to have served side by side for a while, has anyone got a decently detailed history of the 27th?

And since my knowledge of the Jaegers is sketchy in some places, giving me the names of any and all books on the subject - in German or English - on the subject of Jaegers in WW1 would be great.

Thanks

[Paul Hederer]

Could it have been that the unit was active postwar? "Darstellungen aus den Nachkriegskaempfen deutscher Truppen und Freikorps," might have some information. I see the series has two volumes on fighting in the Baltic.

Do you recall was the unit involved in postwar fighting?

Paul

[nr369]

Now thats a good question. It's quite possible that it was active postwar, but I seem to remember it being on operations during 1914 - 1918. I would very much appreciate you having a look for me though.

Thanks

[Heid the Ba]

This thread has some posts by MartH about a book he has on the Finnish 27th Jager including photos. Might be worth a PM to him to see if it mentions the 28th.

[Paul Hederer]

Now thats a good question. It's quite possible that it was active postwar, but I seem to remember it being on operations during 1914 - 1918. I would very much appreciate you having a look for me though.

Thanks

I found these threads just searching here:

Irish men serving with the Germans?

Lockstedt

and on the axis history forum:

History of Finnish Jaegers

and here:

clickety

and especially here:

History of the Finnish Jaegers

I would start by contacting some of the people involved in these threads and websites. I think they could help you much more quickly than someone (like me) starting from scratch. If you try and get no results then come back and we can try some other sources.

Paul

[Hoplophile]

While I cannot find a regimental history for the 28th Reserve Jäger Battalion, I would not be surprised if one existed.

The German peacetime army had eighteen Jäger battalions - two for the Guard (Guard Jäger and Guard Schützen), two for Bavaria, and fourteen for the other states (numbered 1. through 14.) Upon mobilization, each of these units formed two wartime battalions - an active battalion and a reserve battalion. Later in the war, a second series of wartime battalions was formed.

I have found citations for regimental histories for twelve battalions from this second series of reserve battalions, with numbers that run from 15. through 26.

This thread provides a lot of information on the difference between Jäger Battalions and Jäger Regiments.

Tonight, I shall check my library to see if I can't find a specific reference to this unit.

[bierast]

While reading (very, very slowly and highly imperfectly) through Sachsen in Grosser Zeit and the regimental history for FAR 48 this weekend I had a proper look at October-November 1918 for the first time.

241 Div. direly needed rebuilding after the heavy defensive fighting around Montbrehain / Brancourt circa 1st-10th Oct. The three infantry regiments 472-474 had taken massive losses, resulting in the disbanding of IR 472. They were replaced by Jäger Regiment 7, which consisted of Jäger Batt. 13, Res. 25 and Res. 26 (IIRC - I don't have all my notes at work with me). All of these battalions were Saxon.

Btw there were 2 regular Saxon Jäger battalions (12, 13) and four reserve (12, 13, 25, 26). There was also a regular 'rifle' regiment - Schützen-regiment 108.

[nr369]

Thanks to Hoplophile and Andi Lucas for that info. If anyone finds even the barest mention of this unit, I would very much appreciate you passing the info on.

Would there be any way to narrow down when a 28th Jager Battalion would have been set up in the war? Hoplophile mentioned the formation of "a second series of wartime battalions" during the war. At what point in the war would the first of these been set up, and do we have any specific creation dates for each battalion?

And just to clarify, although I think I already know the answer, could the confusion be that I'm looking for Jager REGIMENT nr. 28 instead of Jager Battalion nr. 28? I doubt it, but I figured I'd ask. Was there even a jager Regiment 28, and if so, does anyone know it's composition?

Here's hoping somebody digs up a reference...

Thanks.