38th Infanterie Division

[David Filsell]

Do any knowledgable forum members have a copy of 38th Infanteries Division's s history or more specifically that of 67th Infantrie regiment. I know from "Histories of the Two Hundred and Fifty One Divisions of the German Army" that the Division and specifically 67th Regiment served at Verdun in October 1916 but am seeking strengths, casualty figures any notes on the regiment's morale -or indeed any other information about their service in September 1916 (when the French retook Douaumont).

Regrads

David

[Alastair Fraser]

Dear David

As nobody has replied to your request for information on 38 Division I thought I would give you what I have.

67 IR served with 34 Infanterie Division rather than 38 Infanterie Division. Are you interested in both formations or just the one that 67 IR served in?

34 Infanterie Division came to Verdun from the Argonne arriving on 21/8/16. They were fighting near Thiaumont until 9/9/16 after which the record merely states that they in "Stellungskampfe um Verdun" - position warfare in Verdun. They were taken out of the line on 28/10 and on 6/11 moved to the Vosges.

There is a history of 67 IR entitled "4. Mageb. Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 67" by Edourd Simon, published by Gerhard Stalling in Oldenburg in 1926. The Imperial War Museum have a copy - call no 02(43).444 (67 Inf. Regt)3. I cannot find any trace of a history of 34 or 38 Division but that is not to say that they do not exist. If you cannot get to the IWM (on the wrong continent for example) you might be able to buy a copy. I use Theodor Walpurgius at the following address:

http://www.history-books.com/en/

There is not much more to add. The German official history might have some detail (also held by IWM). I only have the first two volumes of the Reichsarchiv volumes on Verdun and it is probably the third one that covers the period you are interested in. The Battleground Europe book on Fort Douaumont by Christina Holstein does not mention 67 IR or 34 or 38 divisions. There is a general dearth of English language material about Verdun.

A word of caution on "251 Divisions". This is a wartime intelligence publication and should be treated with more caution than most people give it. German publications compiled post war from official sources are more likely to be accurate and even these do not seem to agree always. I use "Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee", Hermann Cron et al, Berlin, [1935?].

Hope this is of some use

Regards

Alastair Fraser