The 2 Chevauleger Regimental History - Part Four - The Battle of Flanders

Below is the fourth installment of the 3 Eskadron, 2 Chevauleger Regiment's wartime service. This installment covers most of the 1917 and during this time, the 3 Eskadron spent most of its time in Flanders. Enjoy!

  The Battle of Flanders

(May 27, 1917 - July 3, 1917)

Nevertheless, while we had suffered one defeat after another in both East than in the West, at Arras on the Aisne and in the Champagne the Allied breakthrough attempts had failed - their seßten(?) its attacks on the Western Front persistent sort (?). Above all, the British attacked on the Flanders Front because of the bases used against England in the U-Boart war. The British actually managed to build mining works that undermined our front in the Ypres Salient without our noticing and on July 7, 1917 blew it up in the air.

Our brave 3^rd Bavarian Infantry Division, fighting at Whyschaete and Messines, was severely mauled and was no longer able to hold the position so new divisions had to be brought in as reserves. On September 9, 1917, the 6^th Bavarian Infantry Division was  moved from the west, from the position at Douai, and was initially was reorganizing and preparing in the Army Group Reserve in the rear area of the Group Vimy. During this time from September 9, 1917 to September 19, 1917, the 3^rd Squadron was reorganizing in Bruille les Marchiennes and finally was completely gathered and formed.

On September 18, Crown Prince Rupprecht visited all the troops of the 6^th Bavarian Infantry Division at Lallaing and had some kind words of encouragement for each officer and man.

On September 20, the Division was transported to Thourout and positioned behind the left wing of the Group Diksmuide. It has been the preferred division to position at Staden at the front because of it excellent performance.

On August 20 in Douai, the 3^rd  Squadron was loaded and transported by way of Seclin - Lille - Kortrnk - Thielt  to Lichterfelden where they arrived entrained on September 21 at 11:15. On the same day they arrived in Belegem and moved into quarters

While the Division was initially engaged, the division had to endure heavy fighting at Langemarck, the Squadron was, for the most part, re-distributed to the various regiments and detachments, while the remainder of the squadron stayed with the baggage from September 22, 1917 to September 30, 1917. From October 1, 1917 through October 9, 1917, it was stationed at Hoogledede - North.

On the night of September 27/September 28, there was an aerial attack and a bomb struck the Division Headquarters in Gits. The division commander General - Major Freiherr Von Godin fell a victim to the bomb Not quite a year before, he had commanded the 6^thBavarian Infantry Division as its newly appointed commander. Captain d'Hengeliere escaped death by accident and Major b. R. Krik of our regiment died a few days later due to his serious injuries. With it, our regiment lost a dear friend, in war as well as peace he was not only a good mate, but also a loyal friend to all members of the regiment. He was one of those rare people who had no enemies.

At 6:00 am on October 4, 1917 after a short but immensely powerful artillery preparation of the front line, the British attacked accompanied by tanks. Storm, rain and fog hampered the work of our airmen and artillery so that elements of the division were thrown back to Poelkappelle. But again, the enemy was stopped and prevented from breakthrough although the infantry had suffered such heavy losses that they had to be replaced on October 9 by the 227^th Infantry Division.

During these battles, the squadron was constantly forced to lie under observed heavy artillery fire. On October 5, the squadron lost 1 horse due to heavy artillery projectiles crashing into a Fortified position. The Chevaulegers present in the barn were thrown aside by the air pressure, but suffered no injuries.

The activities of the squadron in the Flanders Battle were fully recognized. In particular, our dispatch riders worked perfectly and never failed, but they performed their service under the most severe and difficult conditions up to the infantry's front line. The Iron Cross First Class was awarded to Oberleutnant b. Res Reis and 12 Iron Cross Second Class were awarded for deserving NCOs and enlisted men.

From October 10, 1917 from the Division was again specifically assigned to the 6^th Army Group Souchez. On October 10, the 3^rd Squadron moved to Bekegem by way of Thourout -Sparappelholtz (?) and was loaded onto a train on October 11 in Wynendale. The journey went through Kortrick - Lille - Orchies and then Flines, where the squadron unloaded and proceeded by an overland march to their new accommodations in Annoeullin where they were stationed from December 4, 1917 through January 18, 1918.

During this time a detachment of the squadron was familiarized with trench warfare and beseßte (?) especially and the Divisional artillery observers went pleasure riding and familiarization with the lance.
 

On December 9 and December 15, the armistices with Russia and Romania, respectively, went into effect. There was now no longer any doubt, bass OHL would take the initiative on the Western Front with a vengeance and deliver a blow against the Allies. Right now, it was doubly painful for our squadron since its strength had been reduced to 100 horses.

As of January 19, 1918, Squadron strength was reduced by Officer-Deputies Weber and Teeselder, V.W., Sergeant-Pilots Knopfe and and Böhm, 4 corporals (Gefreiter), 42 enlisted men and 28 horses to the Horse Hospital, III Bavarian Armee Korps. It was only with feelings of sadness and melancholy that these comrades parted from their old squadron with which they were connected to death and in life.

On the same day, the division was withdrawn to train for the upcoming big attack. The 3^rd Squadron rode over to Carvin - Camphine in their new accommodations at Tourmignies, where it remained throughout the training period until February 7, 1918.

When the 6^th Bavarian Division replaced the 187^th Infantry Division, it was deployed again under Group Auber and the 3^rd Squadron relieved the 5^th Squadron of the 16^th Dragoon Regiment in Falubourg de Porte and remained here from February 8, 1918 through February 23, 1918.

Already on February 22, 1918, the Squadron was again relieved by 1^st Squadron of the 1^st Jaeger-zu-Pferde Regiment. The division was placed in OHL Reserve and rated as a I-A Division within the meaning of the OHL Order No. 6050, supplemented. The 3^rd Squadron moved over to Ronchin - Merchin after Gainghin and remained there until the beginning of the great battle (i.e. Kasierschlacht).

 

The 2 Chevauleger Official History - Part Three - The Battle of Arras

Below is the third installment of the 3 Eskadron's history during the First World War. While much of this is sparse on specific details, we do learn of two casualties of which one, ironically enough, was due to being kicked in the head by a horse, resulting in death. RIP, Chevauleger Mühlbauer.

One interesting detail is that it indicates that the 3 Eskadron was first issued stahlhelms in July 1917. Interestingly enough, the author notes that if there was any wind, a noise was created in the helmet that interfered with the wearer's hearing- this was a pretty common complaint and it ultimately led to the development of the 1918 pattern stahlhelm with the cut-out ears (aka the incorrectly named "cavalry" helmet). Production models were made for testing and evaluation but the war ended before this could be implemented.

Here it is:

 The Battle of Arras

May 2, 1917 – May 20, 1917

When the great offensive of the British broke out at Arras, a number of divisions were transported into the sector with great haste to prevent the impending breakthrough. On May 3, 1917, the 6^th Bavarian Infantry Division was pulled from winter position/Army group Reserve south of Lille in the area of Raches-Flines (northeast Douai). However, it was mainly through the counter-attack of the 3^rd Bavarian Infantry Division during the period from April 10, 1917 to April 25, 1917, with its magnificent heroic commander Gilt. Von Wenninger,[1] that the breakthrough of the English at Monchy was sealed off. On the night of May 12, 1917 through May 13, 1917 the 5^th and 6^th Bavarian Infantry Divisions were relieved from their positions at Fresnon (?) so that the units from Group Vimy could assume their positions (?).

On May 5, 1917, our 3^rd Squadron was relieved by the 3^rd Squadron, 16^th Hussar Regiment and moved forward to legitimate accommodation[2]. However, the stables had to be disinfected because of Mange/Scabies. As of May 13, 1917, the date on which the division (6^th Bavarian Infantry Division?) was in position until September 8, 1917, the Squadron was in Fliers. In addition to the principal fighting, the Squadron provided reporting services and forward observation services for corps and divisional bombardments. In the bombardments, officers and warrant officers were rotated in appropriate time periods.[3]

On May 27, 1917 there was a victim of aerial bombing in the squadron: Chevauleger Toh.(?) Muhldorfer was killed at 5:30 in the afternoon in Quiry la Motte. He was buried in Beaumont (?). On July 28, 1917 Chevauleger Mühlbauer suffered a fractured skull by a blow from a horse and died shortly thereafter. He was buried in Lauwin-Planque.

In July 1917, the dispatch rider was equipped with the famous steel helmet[4]. With its fine outer shape, the steel helmet was very becoming and not remembered little of the types of military headgear worn by the riders of our regiment to Mar Emmanuel times (?). It offered protection against shrapnel under shrapnel, but the rider had the disadvantage of a disturbing bass [sound] that was especially heard [loud] in wind – an impediment, especially for our dispatch rider and patrols, which were dependent in many respects on hearing.[4]

A new branch of education must also now be practiced in the cavalry, because henceforth the squadrons were equipped with a machine gun platoon. Unfortunately, this equipment was only available to a small extent for implementation.[5]

[1] Gilt von. Wenninger and our regiment were particularly close, as he had commended the 6^th Cavalry Brigade in Regensburg in the years 1911-13. He later died a hero's death.

[2] Perhaps the squadron was living out in the field and finally they rotated into quarters. Unfortunately, it appears that whatever was being used as stables for the horses was infested with mange mites and had to be disinfected.

[3] The language is a bit sketchy but it appears that officers and warrant officers were being detailed for duty as artillery observers for both divisional artillery and corps artillery in the sector (6^th Armee). Also, it appears that the squadron was providing “observation services” which appear to be part of their normal duties as the division’s reconnaissance element.

[4] One of the most common complaint about the Stahlhelm from soldiers was that a loud sound was created when it was windy that interfered with the soldier’s hearing. This problem was addressed with the 1918 pattern Stahlhelm that was equipped with cut-outs around the ears but the war ended before it could be fully implemented.

[5] It’s a little hard to tell whether this applied to the Stahlhelm or the machine gun. Most likely it’s the machine gun platoon.

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.

The 2 Chevauleger Official History - Part One - The Battle for Verdun

The following is an excerpt from a history of the 2 Chevauleger Regiment that is believed to be the only history, official or otherwise, that exists of the regiment's service during the First World War. Up to this point, except for some vague references scattered here and there through what few references in the English language in existence, not a lot is known about the regiment's wartime service.

After going finally being able to raise the cash and actually locate a copy (nope, this one is not available electronically on Google Books), it was a trial just getting it shipped from Germany to the United States (for some inexplicable reason, the package wandered up and down the East Coast of the United States for about a month before finally coming west to me). Once I had it in my hands, I realized that it was going to be a tough, tedious process translating it. First, my German is not that great and second, the book is printed in Fraktur, an German typeface that was popular during the Kaiserzeit for printed materials. Normally, I would scan whatever I want to translate and then copy and paste into Google Translate, a tedious process and one that still requires you to puzzle through much of the translation- the grammar and syntax are atrocious (fortunately, I know enough about the German military during the Kaiserzeit that I can usually make an educated guess as to meaning and it's usually correct. 

However, with the book being printed in Fraktur, there's an additional step that I need to do- basically I have to transcribe the passages by hand into modern German (well, sort of modern German) using a chart that translates Fracktur into modern typeface. And yes, there is scanning software available that will do this but it's expensive and not particularly reliable.

Fraktur font- Needless to say, it can be quite confusing at times.

So in the end, I devised a three-step process where I first transcribe the passages in Fraktur into modern German and then copy and paste them into Google Translate. After cleaning up the translates passages for grammar and so that they make some sort of sense, I then have a somewhat finished product. Or at least one that gives an idea of what is going on. It's a slow process and it's only now that I've actually had some time to sit down and tackle some of it.

I have purposely chosen to focus on the 3 Eskadron since that is who we portray for living history purposes and fortunately for  us, the regiment was split up into its component squadrons and parceled out to various divisions so the history is a bit different for each. This is just the beginning and I hope you all will forgive me for whatever mistakes that I make. Given that I seriously doubt that we're ever going to see a professional translation of this book into English, it is a unique contribution/attempt. So on with the translation....

Horrido!

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The Battle of Verdun (February 21 - September 9, 1916)

When the divisional cavalry regiments on the Western Front were rearranged, only the 3^rd Squadron remained with the 6th Bavarian Infantry Division. The 5^th Army then ordered the squadron to be provided for use at Verdun and on July 15, 1916, the 3rd Squadron marched from St. Benoit where it had been situated from December 12, 1914 to July 14, 1916, about 1 ½ years, by way of Lachausse-Jarny to Genaville. On July 16, the squadron moved into accommodations in Mech le Bas and on July 16, it moved into accommodation in Mech le Bas which was dirty and it suffered under the plague of flies suffering and on July 17 it moved to Villers les Mangiennes, where it remained until the August 10, 1916.

The shattered 6^th Bavarian Infantry Division was one example of the murderous struggle for Verdun. On July 19, detachments from the 3rd Squadron took over the sectors of the 3rd Squadron/4th Chevauleger Regiment of the Alpine Corps. The sectors taken over required an impressive number of detachments consisting of 5 officers, 10 NCOs, 65 men and 60 horses so a complete replacement was hardly possible. The efforts of loyal devotion to duty that were required in this great struggle were monumental. In almost continuous travels, the dispatch riders were almost constantly on the move. The paths, gorges and valleys were contaminated with gas and the foul odors of dead bodies polluted the air even more than the enemy's bullets. There was disease around Verdun caused by rank atmosphere as well as by the nervous tension raging in the ranks of the squadron.

Doubtless the brunt of the fighting was on the shoulders of the brave infantry, but it was our dispatch riders who contributed with silent devotion to duty and heroism, can certainly be made equal to the activity of the sister arms to the side. On the shoulders of our Chevaulegers who had to convey the most important messages and commands regardless of enemy fire, weighed a responsibility, which they were also fully aware of. It is known that the means of communication used in the great battle all failed except the alarm goer (?) and dispatch rider, as well as the carrier pigeons. The carrier pigeon station at Romagne was used by our Chevaulegers from July 18 to August 10, 1916 and was garrisoned with 1 officer, 2 NCOs, 4 enlisted men and 8 horses. The men posted were Oberlieutenant b. Ref. Spiegelberger, Sergeant Donhauser, Sergeant Kuhlen and the Chevaulegers Weber, Kamsperger, Auerhammer and Winter. The supervision of the pack animals and the various prisoner transports were assigned to our 3rd Squadron.

From August 2 to August 9 raged the fight for Fleury and on the cold earth. The Division had lost in hard fighting 187 officers, 7523 NCOs and enlisted men that took place. On August 11 they were finally replaced (?). The 3rd Squadron was replaced by the 4^th squadron of the 12^th Jaeger zu Pferde Regiment (Rittmeister v. b. Osten) on August 12 at St. Laurent-Noers after Longuhon where by 8:30 the loading began (railroad?). The squadron travelled via Montmedy –Caignan – Mouzon – Authe - Harricourt by Brisquenay where at 4:30 pm the loading (?) began The squadron moved into Harricourt in the Argonne where they were accommodated where the 4 Squadron of the 12^th Jaeger zu Pferde had previously been stationed. Here, the squadron remained until September 30, 1916.

The 6^th Bavarian Infantry Division was under the command of General-Kommando VI Armee Korps (von Mudra) and was assigned to a relative quiet sector due to their heavy losses. Lieutenant d. R. Spiegel Berger took over the local command at Floville, Lt. B. Ref. Wirth took over that of Cheppy. The squadron had again to provide the normal detachment for the Stellunkstrieg (?) and also to take over the train operations (?). At that time, Captain d’ Hengeliere designed and conducted for the officers of the General Command some riding hunts between Buzanzy and Fosse.