We continue this week with another “Reservistenkrug” from a Bavarian Regiment; The Royal Bavarian 11th Infantry Regiment “Von der Tann”. I had my share of frustration with this Beer Stein, because I wasn’t able to find any records of this person at all, or maybe I found him, but his records only show his life from 1914 on and not before. In addition, if the person didn’t fight in the Bavarian army during the First World War, there is a big possibility of finding no records at all. Therefore, this article today is about the Regiment and the Stein itself.
This Regiment was stationed in the beautiful city of Regensburg, which can be seen in the front part. The Krug shows also the joy of the soldier to go into the reserve, which is something typical to see in this type of items. At the same time, it is patriotic as we see the picture of the “Prinzregent Luitpold” on it. Let’s Remember, that after the (mysterious) dead of the King Ludwig II, his brother Otto took the crown, but he was mentally incapacitated to reign. In that moment, his uncle, Luitpold emerged as the Prince Regent for the Kingdom of Bavaria.
The Regiment took its name in honor to the famous and able General Ludwig von der Tann, who commanded the I Bavarian Army Corps during the Franco Prussian War of 1870 / 1871. His Army Corps was involved in Sedan (famous battle of Bazeilles) and in Orleans.
As part of the Royal Bavarian 6th Division (III Bavarian Amy Corps, 6th Army), the regiment took part at the beginning of the Fist World War in the Nancy Epinal offensive, fighting along with the 5th Division just a few kilometers west of Nancy (Champenoux). Already in the middle of September 1914, the regiment was sent around 50 kilometer south east of Verdun, in the Cotes de Meuse to take the Fort Camps des Romains and St. Mihiel, something that happened just a month later. The III Bavarian Amy Corps was placed in the area for the whole of 1915, right until June 1916.
The 6th Division was located in the south of St. Mihiel, in the Forest of Ailly and Apremont. In those areas, there were plenty of combats against the French Troops in the first half of 1915. The French retook some lost ground around in the forest, but the offensive was not successful because some units got dispersed and disconnected between each other. At the end, the German managed to recapture the ground from the French. From August, the “typical” Trench Warfare followed, until 1918.
On the 20th of June, the division was sent to the Verdun Front and 3 days later, it took part in the attack on Ouvrage de Thiaumont, along with the Alpenkorps. On the attack of the 23rd of June, a new type of Gas was released in the front, one of the last big hopes of General von Knobelsdorf. Thiaumont was taken in that day, but it was going to be retaken and again taken in the following days.
The offensive achieved good results and could have brought the very end of the whole fight in Verdun, if they wouldn’t have made the same mistakes as in February; the lack of Reserves and the limited of the front. This was the turning point in the battle.
In August 1916, the division was sent to the Somme to fight near Guedecourt, but at the end of September, it had to be released due to the casualties.
For the whole 1917, the Regiment was going to be located in Flanders and Artois. The Division took part in the Battle of Arras in spring 1917, suffering also heavy casualties (due to gas). The offensive was a very successful allied movement. It also participated in the Third Battle of Artois (in La Bassée), in September-November 1917, with terrible effects for the Bavarian.
For the German Spring Offensive in 1918 (Kaisserschlacht), the division was placed in the Cambrai Front (Bullecourt), but just 6 days later, it has to be relieved due to the huge casualties (and little advance). But soon later it will come back to fight against the Belgian near Ypres. It was an attack, that ended up really bad for the Bavarians. At the end, it had to be send to the Verdun area for resting and reorganization.
In the “final days”, this regiment can be found in the retreats, East of Rheims in the Champagne area, where they fought hard, until the last day of the War.
The 6th Bavarian Division was in the top 50 best German Division suffering appalling casualties during the war. In the Book “Histories of the 251 Divisions of the German Army”, they also mention that, they were quite anti-Prussian.
What a Surprise…
Sources: www.morthomme.com, Histories of the 251 Divisions of the German Army, which participated in the War 1914-1918, Traditions of the Imperial German Infantry Regiments (Chris Dale), The Price of Glory (Verdun 1916)( Allistair Horne).