Seeking information about an Imperial Soldier.

[AndyM35]

Hello all,

I’m posting this on behalf of another collector seeking information about an Imperial German soldier pictured in a postcard that he recently obtained. Posted below is his text:

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“ Today something quite simple, but incredibly moving to me : I recently got this Feldpostkarte depicting a german soldier with his gummimaske dated 20th november 1917.

The text is written in the old german « Sütterling » way, and even I as a german couldn’t understand a word. My grandfather can read it tho (oh what loss of knowledge it will be when this generation, that is at dusk of its time, will disappear). So with his kind help i can share these intimate words with you :

Landfeldwebel Berger Reserve
IR 84 (RIR 84) Stab II

“Dear Willy (Wihlhelm),

On this card you can see your daddy with his gasmask. Have mom and Lisbet received their cards yesterday too?
Behave and listen well to your mother so you don’t get sick.
Greetings and kisses to you all
Your father. »

Sent to his son in Hambourg. I have attached a pic of the building he lived in :

Wilhelm Berger
Bookshop
Altona / Elbe
Kleine Freiheit, 52”

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Below are pictures of the postcard and the same building located in Hamburg that the soldier lived in prior to the war and most likely ran a bookshop from.

Is anyone able to ascertain what became of Wilhelm? Also, where IR 84 (or RIR84?) have been located when the postcard was written? What does Stab II mean?

Any help in finding information would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Andy

[Willmore]

Hello Andy.

Stab II would mean he was a member on the 'Staff' of the 2nd Battalion.

kind regards,

Will.

[Anon]

RIR 84: RIR 84 – GenWiki

Doesn’t list a precise location.

Only Herbstschlacht 1917 for the regiment and schlacht in Flandern for the 18 th reserve division which it was a part of.

[VtwinVince]

Interesting card, with a creepy element to it. There was no such rank in the German army.

[Witt]

I really like the look of the postcard and its unique image. Here is where all three bataillonen of the regiment were in the fall of 1917:



Highest level officers in II. Bataillon and its Kompagnien at the time:



There was a history written by two officers of the regiment after the war titled Geschichte des Infanterie-Regiments von Manstein (Schleswigsches) Nr. 84 by Hauptmann Pohl and Oberleutnant Bode. That would probably provide a great account of the entire war. I also found some more information about Infanterie-Regiment “von Manstein” (Schleswigsches) Nr. 84 from a 1937 veteran chronicle.


They had come after spending September fighting in Artois. Bullencoirt, Riemcourt, and Queant to be vague. Late October the move to the area east of Ypres occured. At the end of November 1917 he likely would be have near the Bassevillebeek [River] east of Ypres since the week prior, maybe longer. The leader of 6. Kompagnie had led his troops into this region first on November 14. He was killed and collected by the British soon after. Until March 1918 elements of the regiment were in this region around Bassevillebeek. That is north of Zandvoorde, west of Gheluvelt, and as far north to around Polderhoek.








The Australian War Memorial has a collection of ten panoramic photographs of the battlefields around this vicinity. Three are shown above and all can be found linked below. Some are marked with names like Stout Wood, Rifle Road, Berry Cotts, etc which appear to be right near their positions.
Panoramic view of the battlefield east of Ypres, from Gheluvelt to Bassevillebeek. In the ... | Australian War Memorial





Ben

[BlackCat1982]

Nice postcard and research. I could only find one Wilhelm Berger born 1894 who lightly wounded in September 1917 from Hamburg. But there was no unit data so could not be sure it was the same man. Hopefully he got home unscathed.

[AndyM35]

Hello Andy.

Stab II would mean he was a member on the 'Staff' of the 2nd Battalion.

kind regards,

Will.

Thank you for the information Will!

Andy

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RIR 84: RIR 84 – GenWiki

Doesn’t list a precise location.

Only Herbstschlacht 1917 for the regiment and schlacht in Flandern for the 18 th reserve division which it was a part of.

Thank you! This is good information!

Andy

[AndyM35]

I really like the look of the postcard and its unique image. Here is where all three bataillonen of the regiment were in the fall of 1917:



Highest level officers in II. Bataillon and its Kompagnien at the time:



There was a history written by two officers of the regiment after the war titled Geschichte des Infanterie-Regiments von Manstein (Schleswigsches) Nr. 84 by Hauptmann Pohl and Oberleutnant Bode. That would probably provide a great account of the entire war. I also found some more information about Infanterie-Regiment “von Manstein” (Schleswigsches) Nr. 84 from a 1937 veteran chronicle.


They had come after spending September fighting in Artois. Bullencoirt, Riemcourt, and Queant to be vague. Late October the move to the area east of Ypres occured. At the end of November 1917 he likely would be have near the Bassevillebeek [River] east of Ypres since the week prior, maybe longer. The leader of 6. Kompagnie had led his troops into this region first on November 14. He was killed and collected by the British soon after. Until March 1918 elements of the regiment were in this region around Bassevillebeek. That is north of Zandvoorde, west of Gheluvelt, and as far north to around Polderhoek.








The Australian War Memorial has a collection of ten panoramic photographs of the battlefields around this vicinity. Three are shown above and all can be found linked below. Some are marked with names like Stout Wood, Rifle Road, Berry Cotts, etc which appear to be right near their positions.
Panoramic view of the battlefield east of Ypres, from Gheluvelt to Bassevillebeek. In the ... | Australian War Memorial





Ben

Thanks very much Ben for all of the information you’ve provided. And those photos really show the stark landscape he would have been fighting in and give his story more context. I agree, an interesting postcard which may be taken outside a blockhouse.

Thanks again,
Andy

[AndyM35]

Interesting card, with a creepy element to it. There was no such rank in the German army.

Thanks for the assistance. I agree that WW1 masks do have a creepy appearance just like anything that covers the face in some way and it’s hard sometimes to counter that with the fact that there was a often a very young man behind the mask such was the pity of war. I was recently reading an account by Ernst Junger where he said that sometimes the air was so full of gas that there wasn’t even any air to filter!

[AndyM35]

Nice postcard and research. I could only find one Wilhelm Berger born 1894 who lightly wounded in September 1917 from Hamburg. But there was no unit data so could not be sure it was the same man. Hopefully he got home unscathed.

Thanks as always BlackCat! I guess Wilhelm Berger was a relatively common name but with the Hamburg connection it does give him more of a chance of being the right man. Let’s hope so.

Andy