The 2 Chevauleger Official History - Part Two - The Battle of the Somme

And now, freshly translated, is Part 2 in the history of the 3 Eskadron, 2 Chevauleger Regiment during the First World War. As you no doubt have discerned, the 3 Eskadron was primarily involved in rear area support activities to include dispatch riding, Feldgendarmerie duties, manning carrier pigeon stations, and a variety of other routine duties. This only confirms what I have believed all along and while these duties are not glamorous, they all had an element of danger due to poison gas, shellfire, and small arms fire and the 3 Eskadron, along with the entire regiment, sustained casualties although nowhere on the scale as their infantry comrades.

The 3 Eskadron participated in the Battle of Verdun from July 15, 1916 through September 14, 1916 when they were then ordered, along with its parent formation, the 6 Bavarian Infantry Division, to assigned to the 6th Army in the Somme region. From September 15, 1916 through May 6, 1917, the 3 Eskadron served in a variety of locations in the Somme regions as part of the 6th Army.

The narrative is somewhat confusing and ambiguous in places in that the dates do not completely coincide in various places as to the 3 Eskadron's whereabouts and details are often vague as to what exactly the Eskadron was doing. With that in mind, below is the nex installment of the 3 Eskadron's story:

For spring, the Allies had a simultaneous attack on the east and west, planning to smash between this great pliers the German army. The German attack on Verdun had put a huge spanner in the works of our enemies. So it was because of this that the Allied attack took place much later than planned, and had not the destructive force which he had at the beginning of the year. By the end of June, when the Battle of Verdun was already dying down, the Western powers launched their major attack against the German Western Front resulting in some not insignificant local successes. However, the planned breakthrough failed due to the tenacious will of our leadership and the bravery of our troops.

When the battle of the Somme had reached its climax, the 6^th Bavarian Infantry Division was brought in mid-September 16 in the area of Flers to hastily to replace the 4^th Bavarian Infantry Division. On September 18, the 6^th Bavarian Division was again assigned to their actual General Command, III Bavarian Armee Korps. The division had already experienced heavy fighting when in the afternoon of September 25, the storm broke and the English assaulted Guendecourt-Lesboeufs after a two-hour drumfire barrage. The lines of the 6^th Bavarian Infantry Division had already been greatly thinned, and on September 26 they were completely forced in a major attack with a formation of tanks. In the face of strong opposition, there was a retreat to the previous position at Allaines. On the same day, the replacement of the division by the 7^th Reserve Division began, though the staff and some troops remained until September 30 in the sector.

On the evening of September 14, our 3^rd Squadron under Captain d’Hengeliere was positioned at Harricourt (Argonne) and on September 15, and at 1 am (?) was ordered to move to the front at Busigny after being transported to Caudry by way of Sedan – Mezieres – Hirlon. By 1 pm, the movement was completed after a 6 ½ hour march, the squadron reached its accommodations at Neuville Bourjouval. Here they replaced the 5^th Squadron, 3^rd Chevauleger Regiment (Duke Wilhelm Ludwig of Bavaria). In short, during the great battle, the dispatch riders did their duty to the utmost and the squadron also provided observation and provost marshall/policing (Feldgendarmerie) services. 1 NCO and 9 enlisted men were assigned to the 29^th Aeronautical Detachment. Throughout the great battle our brave Chevaulegers did their often very thankless service and they could not have done better.

As the 6^th Bavarian Infantry Division was gradually relieved, so was our 3^rd Squadron which was relieved by the 2^nd Squadron of the 6^th Bavarian Reserve Cavalry Regiment. The squadron moved to Havrincourt and were quartered in the well-known magnificent, if rather overdone, castle of a French industrialist.[1] On October 1, the squadron marched to Thun St. Martin by way of Marcoing-Cambrai and on October 2, having passed through Bonoignies; on October 3 the Squadron went into its winter quarters at Noyelles les Seclin, where they remained until the Battle of Arras on May 6, 1917.

While the 6^th Bavarian Infantry Division was stationed at the front, the squadron had to make itself available to the immense local department commands: the Feldgendamerie, light signal service, and to raise crops. As of November 1, 1916, the detachment consisted of:

Officers	NCOs	Enlisted	Horses	Command
1 (d'Hengeliere)		1	2	Division Staff (2. General Officer)
1 (Stark)		1	2	Division Staff (Ordnance Officer)
1 (Spiegelberger)		1	2	Stock Inspection (presumably remount horses) - Chateau-Bourgh
	2	26	17	Division Staff (Reporting Service - presumably dispatch riders)
		5	6	11th Infantry Brigade (Reporting Service - presumably dispatch riders)
		5	5	12th Infantry Brigade
1 (Reif)	3	10	6	Ortskommandantura - Novelles
1 (Wirth)		1	2	Ortskommandantura - Wicres
	1	11	12	Ortskommandantura - Avelin (Bahnsch.)
	1	10	11	Ortskommandantura - Templemars (Bahnsch.)
	1	10	11	Ortskommandantura - Pont a Marq (Bahnsch.)
	1	3	4	Ortskommandantura - Sainghin (Feldgendamerie.)
	1	3	4	Ortskommandantura - Gondrecourt (Feldgendarmerie)
	1	4	5	Ortskommandantura - Marquillies (Feldgendarmerie)
		2	2	Ortskommandantura - Don (Feldgendarmerie)
		1	1	Ortskommandantura - Chateau du Bois (Feldgendarmerie)
	1	3		Light Signal Service
		1	2	Hydraulic Officer (Water pumping?)
5	12	98	94
The total strength of the Squadron was, however:
7 (Including doctor and veterinarian)	18	150	166

From October 12, Captain d'Hengeliere commanded the division headquarters, first filling in for the furloughed Second General Staff Officer and then for a period as assistant adjutant. Finally on December 6, 1916, he announced that he was not commanding the squadron and that he was now Division Adjutant in division headquarters. Later, on February 9, 1918, before the great battle in France[2], Rittmeister d'Hengeliere took command of the I Battalion, 13th Infantry Regiment which he led with distinction until October 4, 1918.

Oberleutnant von Brentanno was appointed on October 14, 1916 as an experienced Ordnance-Officer to the General Command, III Bavarian Armee Corps.

The leadership of the squadron took first went to Lt. D R Reif and from December 17, 1916 from Captain Fehn. On August 17 Officer Deputy Eifenbarth was assigned to the squadron from the Replacement Depot squadron (Ersatz Eskadron) but he had to be returned due to illness.

In addition to the detachments described in detail above, the squadron had to meet a number of other issues during the winter 19-17. From December 27, 1916, the squadron had a detachment of 2 NCOs and 15 enlisted men build a message center in Gravelin. From January 6, 1917, Captain Fehn took over command of the squadron, assigned to provide security in the Wotan position (of the Hindenburg Line) and a number of new training courses had to be run. The gas service became considerably important as a result of the development of the gas warfare and the officers of the squadron were ordered to Infantry Regiments for training in patrolling. This came at a time when a considerable number of NCOs under enlisted men had volunteered for the Air Service. Also, because of the new armament program of the Supreme Command, it was necessary for many efficient Chevaulegers to be reassigned to industries in the homeland.

On April 20, 1917 Captain Fehn was appointed as Ordinance Officer to Division Headquarters. The leadership of the 3 Squadron was first taken over by Oberleutnant b. R. Reif and subsequently, on May 15, 1917, the leadership of the squadron was assumed by Captain Weyer of the 6^th Chevauleger Regiment.

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[1] Kaiserschlact or March Offensive

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[2] Most likely Chateau d' Havrincourt. Originally built in 1880, it was completely destroyed during the First World War. Initially, the German High Command used it as a headquarters during 1916 and later it was completely destroyed in 1917-18 in heavy the fighting since it was positioned right in the middle of the Hindenburg Line.