This time, I am going to show you something different as seen before; an Erkennungsmarke or Identification tag. As we can see, this one belonged to Xaver Lieb, who was born on the 2nd of December 1896 in a small Bavarian Village called Asch, between Lindau (Bodensee) and Munich, joining the reserve of the Royal Bavarian 12th Infantry Regiment.
With this Information above, it is easy to find his records in the Hauptarchiv München. The problem is, that in some cases parts of the files are missing, in this case, from 1917. Xaver was working in a business making Cheese, when he was called to arms on the 20th of October 1915. In this moment he was still 18 years old.
He was transferred to the Reserve of the Royal Bavarian 12th Infantry Regiment, part of the Royal Bavarian 2nd Infantry Regiment, which was considered one of the best Shock German Divisions during the First World War, as can be read in the page 73 in the book: “Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty One Divisions of the German Army Which Participated in the War 1914 1918”. Maybe I am wrong, but I believe that Xaver landed in an Elite Regiment. Previously, this unit participated in the Lorraine Campaign in 1914, been moved after to the Somme Area and then to Artois. In May 1916, the Bavarians were sent to the madness of Verdun.
Xaver joined the fight on the 4th of June 1916 and the next 20 or 22 Days will surely change his life forever. The Royal Bavarian 2nd Infantry Regiment has been fighting around one of the most iconic and famous parts of the Verdun area, Fort Douaumont. The French, Army and Civilians, were obsessed with this Fort to be retaken. Some French offensives were launched in May, but all of them were rejected at huge costs for them. The French will have to wait a few months more to get it back.
In these early June days, Fort Vaux was a top objective and under attacked, its defenders did their best and fought until the end, without hope and without water. But Xaver was not going to be there, he will be fighting in the Thiaumont Area trying to capture the small fort, the Ouvrage de Thiaumont.
The Ouvrage de Thiaumont was just a small structure in the middle of 2 defensive lines and a mandatory position to take Fort Souville. It was constructed between 1887 and 1893 to hold around 100 – 140 soldiers, with some observations points, machine gun posts and a couple of 75 mm artillery pieces, and for sure, there were other areas near by where to place their mighty 75 mm cannons, “notre glorieux soixante quinze”.
It does not matter the size of this fort, its importance was vital to enter into the last French defensive line, that is why the big amount of casualties, that both sides took in capturing and recapturing this point. The Ouvrage de Thiaumont was taken by the German, retaken by the French, taken again by the Germans…. And at the end, in July, to be finally conquered by the original owners.
The Bavarian suffered appalling casualties. If we believe, what the mentioned book above had to say about this 2nd Division, the Bavarian suffered, at least, a 50% of casualties, with the companies of the Royal Bavarian 12th Infantry Regiment being reduced to just 40 men each, 40 men.
Xaver was also heavy injured in his lower jaw on the 24th or 26th of June and sent to the hospital. He was just 20 or 22 days in Verdun. In July he would be sent to a hospital in Germany (Tübingen) until September that year, when he will rejoin his old, new unit. At the end, he was just a few days with them.
From this time on, there just few entries about Xaver’s actions in the War. He spent a few months in 1917 in the 39th Bavarian Reserve Division, a 4th Class Division with little fighting value, were heavy injured and soldiers with more age were transferred there. He was also in other Units, but just guarding prisoners and other not fighting positions. For sure, his whole life would have been marked after those 20 Days in Verdun.
Xaver was awarded with the following Decorations (The Medal Bar is just an example, it didnt belong to him)
– 7th June 1917 – Iron Cross Second Class (Prussia).
– 16th of March 1918 – Military Merit Cross Third Class with Swords and Crown (Bavaria).
– 15th of May 1918, Wounded Badge in Black. Here the years are matching, 1918.