Camillo Bregant

Major General Camillo Bregant 1932

Camillo Bregant about 1908

Camillo Bregant (born July 24, 1879 in Trieste , Austria-Hungary , † February 21, 1956 in Arnfels , Leibnitz district , southern Styria ) was an Austrian major general , commander of the former kuk dragoon regiment "Nikolaus I. Kaiser von Russland" No. 5 as well a leading officer in the Austrian Armed Forces in the First Republic. His wife was Katalin Bregant .

Life

After being retired as a lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army from the infantry cadet school in Marburg on August 18, 1899, Bregant joined the Dragoon Regiment No. 5 Tsar Nicholas I of Russia . He became one of the most successful racing stable owners and racing riders on his own horses in the monarchy on all racing courses at that time. In 389 competitions, he came 164 times in first place, 144 times in second place and 31 times in third place. In contrast to the income of a young lieutenant of 2,400 kroner, his equestrian successes enabled him to earn a living above average for the time with prize money of over 150,000 kroner.

Due to his cavalry skills, which should be emphasized, he was employed as a trainer at the Military Riding School from 1904 to 1906 and attended the Corps Officer School in Vienna in 1911.

During the First World War , Bregant took over as Rittmeister and leader of the 4th Squadron of Dragoon Regiment No. 5 participated in the following military actions.

• 1914 Participation in the fighting in Poland, Battle of Lemberg , the Siege of Przemyśl , the Battle of the Carpathians and Hungary.
• 1915 Battle of Gorlice-Tarnow , in Eastern Galicia, Trieste and on the Dnestr.
• 1916 Participation in the defense against the Brusilov offensive .
• In 1917 the regiment was assigned to the 4th Cavalry Division under its former (1909) commander Field Marshal Lieutenant Otto Josef von Berndt (1865-1957).
• 1918 Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Soviet Russia and Ukraine . The regiment was withdrawn to the imperial border, then deployed to Marburg, where it remained in the cavalry barracks until 1920.
• 1920 In that year it was disbanded and the remaining parts marched on to Graz. In Graz , the remnants of the regiment were initially formed into the 5th squadron of the first federal army in the large cavalry barracks in Leonhard.

Became major on November 1, 1918, after 21.5 years of service in the Austro-Hungarian Army, he was taken over by the Austrian Armed Forces. From 1922 he was in command of the Dragoon Regiment No. 5 entrusted that it was led as a reinforced squadron for cost reasons. In 1929 he became a cavalry inspector of the Austrian Armed Forces and barracks commander of the cavalry barracks in Graz. Promoted to major general in 1932 , he was put into temporary retirement in 1934 (due to political unreliability in the corporate state , as "notoriously loyal to the emperor"). He was listed as Major General ZV by the German Wehrmacht.

After the Second World War or his retirement, Bregant worked as a winery owner, president of the Campagnereiter-Gesellschaft Landesgruppe Steiermark and as a mentor to the later extremely successful Austrian military rider and military pentathlete Colonel Peter Lichtner-Hoyer .

From 1920 to 1956 he lived with his family first in Leechgasse and from 1928 in Schumanngasse 27, Leonhard district, next to the Große Reiterkaserne in Graz.

He died on February 21, 1956 on a bus trip to southern Styria near Arnfels.

Anecdotes

• In December 1914, the then Rittmeister Bregant personally undertook the exploration in the field.

“I rode my thoroughbred 'Viribus Unitis', winner in 27 races. It was an indescribably precious feeling for me to know that I was riding the fastest horse in the whole theater of war. I had the sure guarantee that even an entire squadron would not have been able to catch me. "

• September 1915: Rittmeister Bregant had an unpleasant adventure on a trip to Trieste. In the pitch black night - Trieste was completely darkened because of the danger of flying - he fell into a deep canal with a high bank wall, from which he could not escape. A passer-by who happened to be passing by fetched help from a nearby inn, and the tablecloths tied together managed to free the dead exhausted man from his predicament.

Awards

Bregant received the Military Merit Cross II and III during the First World War . Class (1st award on January 26, 1915) with war decorations and swords, the bronze and silver military merit medal and the Karl troop cross . In the first republic he was awarded the commemorative medal for World War II participants 1914–1918 with swords and the silver medal for services to the Republic of Austria .

literature

• Arno Georg Kerschbaumer: civil servants, entrepreneurs, officers , pp. 309–313

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Racing calendar for Austria-Hungary. Volumes 1902–1914 profitable racing team owners and riders on Austrian-Hungarian railways
2. ↑ Illustrated sports newspaper Organ für Rennsport , Volume 21 No. 176/177 Vienna-Berlin; Saturday, March 11, 1911; P. 5 ff.
3. ↑ Ulrike Weiss: The riders of Graz. Vehling Verlag, 2005, ISBN 3-85333-117-3 , p. 180.
4. ^ Johannes Rühling: Staffing of the Austrian Armed Forces. Writings of the Heeresgesch. Museums, pp. 173, 177 and 218.
5. ^ List of members of the Austrian Campagnereiter Society. Volume 1950, Druck und Verlagsanstalt, p. 12.
6. ↑ Peter Lichtner-Hoyer: The most versatile athlete in the world. P. 42 ff.
7. ↑ Otto Josef Ritter von Berndt: The 5-er Dragoons in World War 1914–1918. Pressure and Major Paul Kaltschmid publishing house, Vienna 1940, p. 132.
8. ↑ Otto Josef Ritter von Berndt: The 5-er Dragoons in World War 1914–1918. Pressure and Major Paul Kaltschmid, Vienna 1940, p. 213.
9. ↑ Otto Josef Ritter von Berndt: The 5-er Dragoons in World War 1914–1918. Pressure and Verlag Major Paul Kaltschmid, Vienna 1940, p. 152 u. 309

Web links

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