Pioneer Regiment No. 35 (German Empire)

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The Pioneer Regiment No. 35 (from September 1917 Pioneer Battalion 35 ) was an association of the pioneer troops in the German army during the First World War . The unit, which was set up as part of the German gas troops , was best known for its use of poison gas as a chemical weapon .

history

Lineup

The regiment was formed on April 27, 1915. Breloh served as a garrison in the Lüneburg Heath , and the nearby military training area was the most important test and training area as the “ Breloh gas field ”.

The first German special force for gas fighting had been set up according to the plan and under the supervision of the later Nobel Prize winner Fritz Haber since the beginning of January 1915, after a corresponding proposal for the use of chlorine gas as a chemical weapon was approved by the Chief of the General Staff , Erich von Falkenhayn had been. The tactical value of the gas weapon looked partners that it in a surprise attack movement in the trench warfare install and break up the solidified fronts should. The poison gas should be released from the own positions as a coherent cloud under appropriate wind conditions by the "blowing process", flow into the enemy ranks and drive the entrenched soldiers from their positions. The special force for the use of poison gas, camouflaged as a disinfection unit , initially consisted of three pioneer companies, most of which were formed from students who volunteered for the war. They were trained on the Wahn shooting range near Cologne .

After the first successful gas attack during the Second Battle of Flanders on April 22, 1915 near Ypres , two pioneer regiments were formed from Haber's special force, which specialized in the use of poison gas: On April 27, 1915, first the Pioneer Regiment No. 35 was formed (also "Peterson Gas Regiment"), in early May the Pioneer Regiment No. 36 . The first commander of the guest troops was Colonel Max Peterson, who later held the rank of major general.

Each of these new gas regiments consisted of two battalions of three companies each , a company for the stocks (material), a weather station and a radio station. A gas battery consisted of twenty gas bottles. Each squad had to install the bottles in the trenches and camouflage them so that they could not be seen from the aircraft or by patrols. This work was carried out exclusively at night. On each one kilometer of the front line there were fifty batteries of 1,000 gas cylinders with a total of around 20,000 kg of poison gas. In five nights, a regiment was able to equip a front line twelve kilometers in length for the use of poison gas in the blowing process.

In the last years of the war, all belligerent nations stopped blowing attacks in favor of newly developed gas projectiles. The use of poison gas grenades and gas cannons instead of the blowing process should enable chemical warfare agents to be used independently of wind and weather. In August 1917, Pioneer Regiments Nos. 35 and 36 were disbanded and reorganized as Pioneer Battalions 35, 36, 37 and 38. In the last year of the war, the gas troops were expanded: in February 1918 the pioneer battalion 39 was added, in June 1918 the pioneer battalions 94, 95 and 96, so that at the end of the war there were eight poison gas units in the German army.

Battle calendar

May 1915

Use of the Pioneer Regiment No. 35 in the western theater of war: On May 1st, 6th, 10th and 24th 1915 there were blown attacks against British troops near Loos-en-Gohelle (France).

On May 10, 1915, the pioneer regiment no. 35 was joined by the infantry pioneer company no. 5 "Schmelzer", which had been set up shortly before, and which was then organized as the 3rd company of the pioneer regiment no . Württemberg Pioneer Company ”. This unit under Oberleutnant Hermann (from the Bavarian Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 5) as a company commander was put together on April 8, 1915 from the infantry pioneers of the Reserve Infantry Regiments No. 246, 247 and 248 and “to serve the new Ammunition ”(poison gas).

From May 15 to the end of May 1915, the 3rd Company of the regiment was first deployed to the front east and southeast of Ypres, where they carried out a gas attack on May 23 and 24, 1915.

June to July 1915

Deployment in the western theater of war: From the beginning of June to July 26, 1915, 3rd Company deployed in the Argonne near Binarville (France). Until June 8, 1915 preparation of a gas attack on the Marne near Binarville. The attack was not carried out due to unfavorable wind conditions. Training at the "Flottenatmer" ( diving rescuer - breathing apparatus ) in Challerange and position building in the Dieusson-Moreau valley.

July to August 1915

Relocation to the eastern theater of war from July 27, 1915: The 3rd Company began to prepare for a gas attack against the fortress Lomscha and Osowiec . The attack against Lomsha did not take place because the enemy withdrew on August 7, 1915.

August 1915 to May 1916

Relocation to the western theater of war with stays in Johannisburg in East Prussia and near Antwerp : The 3rd Company was assigned to the 29th Infantry Division east of Reims (France) from mid-August 1915 to the end of May 1916 , where it was located on the Marne near Heutrégiville ( Pontfaverger ) was used to repel an expected French attack:

  • Gas attack at Pontfaverger by blowing it off on October 19, 1915
  • Gas attack at Pontfaverger by blowing it off on October 29, 1915. On November 21, 1915, the 3rd company was named 3rd (Württemberg) Company Pioneer Regiment No. 35 .
  • Gas attack by blowing off at Montfaucon on November 26, 1915
  • Gas attack near Péronne on the Somme in January 1916
  • Gas attack near Liancourt on February 21, 1916
  • Gas attack near St. Souplet on the Somme on May 19, 1916. The necessary installation of gas cylinder batteries south of St. Souplet began in early March 1916. Due to unfavorable winds, which made a blow attack impossible, the 3rd Company was made available from March 23 to April 9, 1916 of the 17th Infantry Division at Bémont for excavation work.

May to December 1916

Relocation to the eastern theater of war: The 3rd Company was from late May to early December 1916 a. a. deployed as part of the Brusilov offensive in the section east of Smarhon - Baranavichy ( Belarus ):

  • Gas attack at Smarhon (Smorgon) on July 2nd
  • Gas attack at Smarhon (Smorgon) on August 2nd
  • Gas attack against Russian positions on the Shchara near Baranavichy on September 3
  • Gas attack on the Shchara on October 6th
  • Gas attack on the Shchara on November 28th

December 1916 to July 1917

Relocation to the western theater of war: The 3rd Company was deployed from the beginning of December 1916 to July 1917 northeast of Reims (France):

  • Construction of a blow-off point and gas attack near Époye on the Marne on January 31, 1917
  • Preparations for an attack at Thiaucourt, southwest of Metz
  • Gas attack near Thiaucourt on April 7, 1917
  • Gas attack near Thiaucourt on July 1, 1917

These missions are related to the German operations around Verdun and on the Aisne .

July to October 1917

Withdrawal from the western theater of war, from July to mid-September 1917 relocation to Machalt near Reims to reorganize Pioneer Regiments No. 35 and 36: With the dissolution of Pioneer Regiment No. 35 on August 31, 1917 and reorganization on September 1, 1917 as Pioneer Battalion 35, the 3rd Company was given the designation 3. (Württembergische) Kompagnie Pionier-Battalion No. 35. From mid-September to early October 1917, training on a new gas device ( gas mine thrower ) took place at Sedan . The Württemberg detachment served as a replacement unit in the 36th Pioneer Battalion.

October to November 1917

Relocation to the southern front and subordination of the Pioneer Battalion 35 to the kuk 22nd Rifle Division: The 3rd Company was deployed on the Isonzo front from the beginning of October to November 1917 . In October 1917, at the start of the 12th Isonzo Battle , the unit carried out the most serious use of poison gas to date. Instead of the " B " and " C " warfare agents previously used by Austro-Hungarian troops , which the Italians no longer feared, the method of " Buntschießen " using gas mine throwers from the western front was used. To support an Austro-Hungarian attack, German pioneer units used gas cannons with 70,000 green and blue cross grenades containing the substances chlorine arsenic and diphosgene, new on the southern front, in the Battle of Karfreit on October 24, 1917 . The gas cannons were fired to fill the Naklo Gorge south of Flitsch with 5-6 tons of green cross. An entire Italian unit died here. Major Graf von Pfeil and Klein Ellguth , the commander of the Pioneer Battalion 35, which commanded the gas cannon attack at Flitsch, described the effect: “Already in 1015 vorm. the gorges were found completely gas-free and a perfect gas effect was determined. Only a few living, seriously ill Italians were brought back from the foremost enemy position; in the ravine itself, the entire crew, around 500 to 600 men, were dead. Only a few had put on the masks, the position of the dead suggested sudden gastrointestinal death. Dead horses, dogs and rats were also found. ” This made it much easier for the German and Austro-Hungarian associations to break through the Italian front. The psychological effect was also devastating. A great many Italians surrendered to the attackers, and morale dropped drastically. The Italian front had to be withdrawn as far as the Piave ; French and British units were transferred to this front for reinforcement.

November 1917 to March 1918

Relocation to the western theater of war: The 3rd Company was deployed from November 1917 to March 1918 in the area south of Dieuze (France):

March to April 1918

Deployment in the western theater of war: Relocation of the 3rd company to the Siegfried Line in Saint-Quentin (France) to take part in the great spring offensive in the " zone rouge ":

  • Gas mine thrower attack near Gauchy on March 21, 1918
  • Gas mine-thrower attack on the southern suburb of Chauny on April 6, 1918

May to September 1918

Use in the western theater of war: The 3rd Company was used from May to the end of September 1918 for the offensive on Reims (France):

  • Gas mine thrower attack on Courcy on May 2nd
  • Mine thrower attack with high-explosive mines on the trench system near Courcy on May 6th
  • Gas mine thrower attack on the Aisne-Marne Canal on May 27th
  • Gas mine-thrower attack on Reims on June 18th
  • Gas mine thrower attack in Diksmuide on September 15th
  • Gas mine thrower attack in Diksmuide on September 17th

September to November 1918

Use in the western theater of war: The 3rd Company of Pioneer Battalion 35 was from the end of September to November 11, 1918, the Marine Corps Flanders and the Bay. 14th and 16th Infantry Divisions assigned to demolitions during retreat and position combat in Flanders.

End of war

After the armistice on November 11, 1918 , the march back through Belgium to Lüttringhausen in Westphalia took place in November and December, and then from December 21 to 23, 1918 the return journey by train to Ulm , where the 3rd Company was demobilized on December 23, 1918 of the Engineer Battalion 35 began.

See also

References

swell

literature

  • Margit Szöllösi-Janze : Fritz Haber. 1868-1934. A biography. Beck-Verlag, Munich 1998 (also habilitation paper University of Munich 1996/97), ISBN 3-406-43548-3 ( online ).
  • Ludwig Knies: The Württemberg Pioneer Battalion No. 13 in World War 1914–1918. Chr.Belser AG, publishing house, Stuttgart 1927.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Margit Szöllösi-Janze : Fritz Haber. 1868-1934. A biography. Beck-Verlag, Munich 1998, pp. 327-329. ( online ), accessed January 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Verein für Computergenealogie , 3rd Württembergische Pionier-Kompagnie Pionier-Bataillons No. 35 , ( online ), accessed on January 26, 2015.
  3. ↑ On October 24, 1919, over a million gas grenades exploded on the Breloh gas field near Munster; the total number of victims is not known. (Matthias Blazek: “The black day of Munster”, Böhme-Zeitung , Soltau, weekend supplement “Der Niedersachsen”, part 1: February 23, 2019, part 2: March 2, 2019, part 3: March 9, 2019).
  4. ↑ Deutsche-digitale-Bibliothek.de .
  5. ↑ Die Deutschen Gasmasken (1915–1918) / Les masques à gaz allemands (1915–1918) , accessed on January 26, 2015.
  6. ↑ a b Pionier of Pionier-Regiment 35 ( online ), accessed on January 26, 2015.
  7. ↑ a b Manfried Rauchsteiner : The gas cannons from Flitsch. In: Die Presse , print edition of October 20, 2007, and online edition of October 19, 2007 , accessed on January 17, 2015.