Research on Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 219

[Jon9]

Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 219

Can any one help me on researching on this Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 219 i think the postcard i have was taken in Bredow. If any one could help post these picture in i would be great full to have some help. This picture was taken in a german trench. They must have belong to my great grandfather, but i dont know why he had german postcards.


please help



best regards


Jon.

[K Bandow]

Here is Jon's picture

[K Bandow]

back

[K Bandow]

I believe these men to be of Mecklenburg-Schwerin origin, as I am.
My last name is Bandow, named after a small town in Mecklenburg. I am guessing Bredow is also a small town.

[Frosch]

Rir 219

Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment 219 was raised in Mülheim and Dortmund in North-Rhine Westfalia, which is far from Mecklenburg. The regiment was part of 47. Reserve-Division throughout the war.

The reverse of the card refers to Division Bredow, which was the name of 18. Landwehr-Division before it was numbered. Unusually, the division continued to use the name, despite having a number. The last word is Polen (Poland), which may be where the photo was taken.

The card was sent (Abs. = Absender) by Musketier Hermann (or someone with a very similar name).

I don't know of any reason why RIR 219 and Division Bredow are mentioned together on the card, as there is no apparent link between the two.

The only plausible explanation is that the regiment may have been briefly assigned to Division Bredow while in Poland, but I have no information to back this up.

/David

[Jon9]

To Frosch:

Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment 219 was raised in Mülheim and Dortmund in North-Rhine Westfalia, which is far from Mecklenburg. The regiment was part of 47. Reserve-Division throughout the war.

The reverse of the card refers to Division Bredow, which was the name of 18. Landwehr-Division before it was numbered. Unusually, the division continued to use the name, despite having a number. The last word is Polen (Poland), which may be where the photo was taken.

The card was sent (Abs. = Absender) by Musketier Hermann (or someone with a very similar name).

I don't know of any reason why RIR 219 and Division Bredow are mentioned together on the card, as there is no apparent link between the two.

The only plausible explanation is that the regiment may have been briefly assigned to Division Bredow while in Poland, but I have no information to back this up.

Is it possible if you could tell me where you got this information from? or could also tell me where i could find more information

To Karl (dunkirchen1940)

Hi there karl is it poss if you could post in the other fotos


best regards

Jon.

[Frosch]

Sources

Jon,

The sources I used were the following:

Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee: 5th edition published in Berlin in the 1920's. This shows the basic composition of all German divisions from 1914 to 1918, usually with two Orders of Battle - one on mobilisation/establishment and one later in the war. It also contains a very useful index of most regiments and some smaller units indicating most of their divisional assignments. There is also a list of battles and engagements for every division, making it possible to establish where a unit was likely to have been at a given time and where it fought. However, some units are not included and short-term re-assignments to other higher-level formations are not mentioned. Due to the list format of the divisional OOBs and battles, it is easy to use even if you don't understand German. The book (mine is a single volume, I understand there are also two volume editions) sometimes shows up on German eBay and can also be found via www.zvab.com or www.abebooks.com

History of 251 Divisions of the German Army 1914-18: US military intelligence post-war reprint of British military intelligence Order of Battle for most German divisions including allied assessments. The book contains typical wartime errors and gaps and is not 100% correct, but provides a good English-language overview for the German army in WWI. Unfortunately, it does not have an index, which makes it diffcult to find smaller units. It is still available - ISBN 0 948130 87 3 - from Naval and Military Press Ltd, for example. Try www.naval-military-press.com

Formationsgeschichte der deutschen Infanterie im Ersten Weltkrieg 1914 - 1918: Written by retired German officer Hartwig Busche, this German language book and supplement volume covers just about every infantry unit, indicating when and where regiments were raised, which troops were used to form them and when they were expanded, renamed, changed and/or disbanded. Unfortunately, these two volumes are no longer in print and very hard to find.

Cross-referencing from all available sources is important to establish why units were sometimes not where they seem to have been, particularly for smaller size units.

If you want to know what else is useful for researching Imperial German units and officers, take a look at http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...598#post176598

The more you invest (time and money) in good reference material, the more you will save when buying collectible militaria in the long term. Not all that shines is gold, and some trivial items may represent an interesting piece of history, if you know where to look.

/David

[Jon9]

Hi frosch, this was sent to me on the axis history forum could this lead to any more research in your book?

RIR 219 was part of the 47th Reserve Division 1914-18.As such it took part in the following campaigns in WW1:

1914
Woevre Front France October.
Sent East in November.
Tarnow.

1915
Tarnow,Galicia.
Poland.
Lipsk.

1916
Lipsk-Baranovitchi sector.

1917
Transfered to West May 1917.
Aisne front.

1918
March Somme Offensive.
Marne battle.

The division was dissolved in June 1918.

German postcards could be easily sourced by Allied troops obtaining their kit--either via a POW or a dead soldier.

[Frosch]

47. R.d.

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