Ernst von Bila

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Major Ernst von Bila

Ernst Alexander Herdegen von Bila (born January 28, 1868 in Halle (Saale) ; † August 15, 1918 ) was a Prussian major and knight of the order Pour le Mérite and during the First World War commander of the infantry regiment "Prince Friedrich of the Netherlands" (2nd Westphalian) No. 15 .

Life

Ernst von Bila came from the Thuringian nobility of the von Bila family and was a descendant of Major General Karl Anton von Bila .

At the age of 19 he joined the Magdeburg Fusilier Regiment No. 36 in Halle as an avantageur . After he was promoted to secondary lieutenant in 1889 and to prime lieutenant in 1896 , he was commanded for further training at the war academy . With the promotion to captain he was appointed chief of the 8th company in Merseburg . In the same capacity he was transferred to the 10th Lorraine Infantry Regiment No. 174 in Forbach in 1912 . With his promotion to major, he was a member of the staff of the 3rd Upper Silesian Infantry Regiment No. 62 in Cosel from 1913 .

When the First World War broke out, he had to set up a battalion of the 4th Replacement Division in Brandenburg an der Havel , with which he came to the Western Front on August 20 . Used in Lorraine , the battalion fought in the battle of Nancy . After the division was transported to the northern wing of the Army, part of the 4th Army . After taking the fortress of Antwerp , the battalion pursued the fleeing Belgians. In the winter of 1914/15 his battalion was in position near Diksmuide , fought in the First Battle of Flanders and took part in the Christmas peace. In 1915 the Infantry Regiment No. 360 was formed from the "Bila" battalion and two other brigade replacement battalions .

It only left the Flemish theater of war at the end of September 1916. During his 14-day deployment in the Battle of the Somme , Major Bila was appointed commander of the infantry regiment "Prince Friedrich of the Netherlands" (2nd Westphalian) No. 15 fighting in the Battle of Verdun . A parade of delegations of troops, of the 15 a company under his leadership, of the VII Army Corps, took place on October 20, 1916 in front of the Commander-in-Chief of the 5th Army , the Crown Prince , in the park of Charmois near Mouzay . With the parade and the awards that were subsequently awarded, he honored their achievements in the Battle of the Somme and before Verdun. His regiment was at "Height 304". The no man's land between the trenches was only 50 meters wide. A strongly protruding point, the so-called "back tooth", the French front, reached up to 25 m. The molar, which offered the other side a strategic advantage, was eliminated on December 6, 1916 with the "Company Backzahn", in which seven 15 companies were involved.

On January 25th, the division carried out an enterprise divided into three sub-enterprises, corresponding to the three participating regiments, in order to gain a better view behind the French line at "Höhe 304". The 15 regiment, "Operation Minden", took parts of the front line of the French from the right wing point of the "molar". On February 1st, Major Bila received the Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords as recognition for the operations “Backzahn” and “Minden” carried out by his regiment . In March the position at Chemin des Dames was recaptured from which the army had been pushed back the year before. There it was in October at the Laffaux corner as the Frenchman with a six-day barrage the bay of La Malmaison prepared. On October 23, 1917, both combat and readiness battalions of the 15s were overrun. Shortly thereafter, the regimental staff cleared their battle site and thus escaped capture.

In the Great Battle of France , the commanders and troops stood out in the breakthrough between Gouzeaucourt and Vermand on 21/22. March so outstanding that the army leader ( Hugo von Kathen ) or the general command of the XXIII. Reserve Corps brought Major Bila "because of his excellent bravery in penetrating the regiment under his command in Longavesnes on March 22nd" for the award of the order Pour le Mérite in the proposal. After he stormed the heights of Maurepas on March 25th during the pursuit through the summer region, among other things , he was awarded this highest Prussian valor award on March 28th 1918 by the highest cabinet order (AKO) . This made him the second knight of the order from his family.

After the advance had come to a standstill at the end of the month, the 2nd Army attacked again from April 24th to 26th in the "Battle of Villers-Bretonneux ". However, the attack did not progress after initial successes, also achieved by the 15s. On August 8, 1918, the so-called Black Day of the German Army , the battle of Amiens began at 5.20 a.m. in the Australian sector . The regimental command post , in which the regimental staff was located, was at the east exit of Lamotte . At the moment when the commander wanted to give the order to counterattack the standby troop commander (BTK), a direct hit destroyed the shelter and put it out of action. Since the commander, seriously injured , could not be rescued , he fell into British captivity .

On August 15, 1918, Bila died of his injuries in an English hospital . He was an honorary knight of the Order of St. John .

Ernst von Bila was married to Helene Lohmann (1880–1942) since July 1903. The Hessian education politician Helene von Bila and two sons emerged from the marriage .

literature

  • Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Christian Zweng: The knights of the order Pour le Mérite of the First World War. Volume 1: A-G. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2505-7 , pp. 116-117.
  • Hanns Möller : History of the knights of the order "Pour le mérite" in the World War. Volume 1: A-L. Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1935, pp. 94-95.
  • Gustav Riebensahm: Prince Friedrich Infantry Regiment of the Netherlands (2nd Westphalian) No. 15 in World War I 1914-18. Minden 1931.

Web links

Commons : Ernst von Bila  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ The French called the "back tooth" the "saillant jaw".
  2. ↑ The part of the German position was designated as the Laffaux corner where the German line from La Fere in a north-south direction east of Vauxaillon, crossed the Laon-Soissons road and made a sharp turn to the east, to then essentially the Chemin des Dames to follow.
  3. ↑ General Swiss military magazine. ASMZ, Volume 129 (1963), doi : 10.5169 / seals-40652
  4. ↑ The "Shaft of La Malmaison" is also known as the "October Battle of the Aisne".
personal data
SURNAME Bila, Ernst von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bila, Ernst Alexander Herdegen from
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian major, regimental commander and knight of the order Pour le Mérite
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Hall
DATE OF DEATH August 15, 1918