16 I.R and 134 I.R greman troops 1915

[Laurent]

hi, i am looking for war diaries of 16 and 134 I.R (89th Brigade 40th German Division) in may june 1915.

Thank you. Laurent.

[Alastair Fraser]

Dear Laurent

I fear you may be out of luck with war diaries for these units. 16 IR were from Westphalia and 134 IR from Saxony which would I think mean that their war diaries would have gone to Potsdam where they were probably destroyed in April 1945 in an air raid. I would be happy to be contradicted by a better informed member.

However both regiments have printed histories. That for 16 IR is "Das Infanterie-Regiment Freiherr von Sparr (3. Westfalisches) Nr. 16 im Weltkriege 1914/1918" by Werner Rinck von Baldenstein, Stalling, Oldenburg, 1927.

The other one is "Das Kgl. Sachs. 10. Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 134" by Bruno Schatz, 2 volumes, Dresden, 1922-1925. The Imperial War Museum in London holds copies of both books.

40 Division were in the La Basee and Arras area from 9/5/15 to 23/7/15 although I cannot see that 16 IR served in that division on a permanent basis. Perhaps they were temporarily attached? They appear to have spent most of the war with 14 Division initially in 27 Infantry Brigade and then with 79 Infantry Brigade when the system was changed to only 3 infantry regiments per division.

Hope this is of some use

Regards

Alastair Fraser

[Laurent]

Thank you Alastair.

If someone could send me copy of this book (only pages about may june 1915): Nr. 16 im Weltkriege 1914/1918" by Werner Rinck von Baldenstein, Stalling, Oldenburg, 1927.

and this one: "Das Kgl. Sachs. 10. Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 134" by Bruno Schatz, 2 volumes, Dresden, 1922-1925...

it would be great ! Regards Laurent.

[egbert]

Laurent,

with your request you will hardly get any answer! The regimental histories are rare and too voluminous to copy. Just go the easy way: order the books through your local public library from partner libraries in Germany

[Alastair Fraser]

Dear Laurent

Egbert has beaten me to it. You should be able to get the two histories if you go to your local library and ask to get them. Certainly this has worked for Volker Hartmann, our German member of No Man's Land who has ordered regimental histories from other libraries in Germany. Give it a try. The Germans probably owe you one! I am not going down to London in the near future so I cannot get to see the histories that you need. I will not be down there until after Christmas but if you have no luck by then drop me a line and I will see what I can do.

Regards

Alastair Fraser