A Pause in the Thursday IR 169 Posts
Blog 26, the final segment of the Winterberg series, marks a break from my IR 169 posts. I have enjoyed communicating the experiences of this storied regiment and reading the comments the blogs generated. My pending work requirements will limit my time available for the posting, and I do look forward to resuming them at some point in the future.
While my interest in IR 169 began with my grandfather’s posting in the regiment (1913-1915), my subsequent study led me to appreciate the vast scope of its complete wartime service. This sparked the research that eventually culminated in publishing the second edition of Imperial Germany’s Iron Regiment of the First World War: the History of IR 169, Badgley Publishing (2017).
These 26 posts have barely scratched the surface of the IR 169 story. Much of the materiel presented in the posts are summarized accounts of the chapters of the book. Many other points in IR 169’s service have not yet been touched. These include the regiment’s role in the Race to the Sea (1914), the Flanders 1914-15 Battle of La Bassee, the defense of Serre (the Somme) August – December 1916, the Battle of Pinon (October 1917), return to Flanders (1918), Bapaume (1918) and its complete destruction in the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne at the hands of US Marines on 1 November 1918. For those with further interest, please see the website www.ironregiment169.com, which provides additional information on the book as well as a Google Map overlay of IR 169’s four year journey across the Western Front. For those who may be interested in purchasing the book, be sure to order the Second Edition, which is a complete rewrite of the original. Col Joe has also kindly archived these posts in his parallel website. https://german1914.com.
All of the members of the WW I German History forum owe Col Joe our appreciation for the excellent work he has done in establishing a community for those with interest in this rather arcane subject. The quality and volume of the content is exceptional and I have learned a great deal from forum members on the entire WW I experience. I can only imagine the time that Joe Robinson has invested in this project, its growth has been remarkable. When I first became active on the forum in early 2020, there were about 250 members. Now, only five months later, it has grown ten-fold. I look forward to remaining an active member in the forum
Best Regards, John Rieth
