More pictures of the Wuerttemberger

[JensF.]

Hi,

here are some more pics of Lt (later Stabszahlmeister) Friedrich Götz from WWI:


Notice the Portepee on his saber and his Pistole 08 pouch:



This pic is from January 24, 1914; before the war! He is in the middle with the coat. Maybe he was their "drill sergeant":



Here they have a Minenwerfer 17 cm, which was a devastating weapon. The Wurfmine has a very thin steel case and is full of high explosives. It weights about 70 kg (!):



On his desk:



Notice the soldier to the far left. He is equipped with a Mauser Karabiner 98a!



If you want to see more pics, let me know.

Best regards

[Glenn2438]

Hi Jens,

excellent photos and I for one would very much like to see some more! He certainly is not a Leutnant in the first photograph and for that matter never would have been. Assuming that he is an Untzerzahlmeister in the first photograph he would have eventually progressed to the equivalent rank of lieutenant (Zahlmeister). The Zahlmeister were recruited from the regular NCOs of the army and were appointed Unterzahlmeister having passed the appropriate examinations. While still in the non commissioned rank of Unterzahlmeister they were still classed as soldiers. Upon appointment as a Zahlmeister they then became officials and were no longer classed as soldiers!

During the war the 13th Pioneer Battalion was attached to the following formations:

Staff, 2 & 3 Companies - 27 Infantry Division
1 Company - 26 Infantry Division
1 & 2 Reserve Companies - 28 Reserve Division
4 Company - 26 Reserve Division

Glenn

[JensF.]

Do you know where the InfDiv 26 was in combat? Maybe Verdun?

[Glenn2438]

26 Infantry Division was in the West for most of 1914 initially seeing action at Longwy, the Meuse crossing and then in the Argonne until early October. Switched Northwards it fought at Lille in mid-late October and then at Ypres and Messines until transferred to the eastern front in late November. The division remained in Russia until the following December when it returned to the Yser sector in Flanders. It was not involved in the 1916 fighting at Verdun but was in action on the Somme from 1st until 26 August when it went back to Flanders, returning to the Somme again in mid November. 1917: Spring fighting at Arras and Flanders then down to Lorraine in September followed by a transfer to the Isonzo front and Northeastern Italy until January 1918. Back to Alsace then the "Kaiserschlacht", Rheims, Soissons, Antwerp-Meuse position.

Glenn

[JensF.]

Great! Thanks!
This makes sense, at one of the pics I can see a house with a russian insciption. This is dated 1915 I think. One of the earlier pics is described as the Argonnerwald. He was in the 4. Kompanie /26 InfDiv. So he has seen a lot of action at all fronts.