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12-01-2014 09:11 PM
# ADS
Circuit advertisement
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Above.....The band again……they are very busy in this album.
On their way to Grafenwohr for training.
Rest break on the station at Schwandorf, a town on the River Naab and 66km from Grafenwohr.Jank is in the middle wearing glasses.
Men pile in the carriages, looks like they seem a happy bunch. They must have just been fed!
Officers ready to go, the rolling stock behind their carriage is packed with kit/wagons.
Jank is in the doorway, having a snack whilst another comrade has his priorities set on pouring a beverage. The soldier in the next carriage doorway is ObergefreiterHiergiest a member of the Bttl. Staff.
The band is still playing as they march out for training.
4/7 – 30/7 1928 on manoeuvres, soldiers on foot with platoon commanders whilst senior Officers are on horse. Obstl. Bauer is front middle wearing the bleached/summer tunic speaking with Jank who wears a field cap.
When you look down the column at the rear are the umpires for the field manoeuvres identified by the white bands on their caps. The sign in the background indicates they may be near Heidweiher, a lake just southwest of Nuremberg.Stalt infers a supervisory authority but can’t work out the town /area before that as obscured letters.
Presentation march past Inspecting Officers
Signals Platoon : Goose step past
Next up 5thKomp. March past the inspecting General
Mg Komp with their equipment in horse drawn carts
28/8 -5/9/28 manouvers in the municipality of Ettringen
Around the villages of Irsee and Ehersbach
The autumn battalion riding competition.
Refreshments are served…….note blanket laid out on the front row – Imperial caps still in wear
3/2/29 Out Hunting with the ladies watching.
Offz. Felddienstübung (field service exercise) with II IR20 on 15/2/28 at Schrobenhausen a town35 km northeast of Augsburg.
The next set of pages in the album give us a unique view of members of the battalion staff alongside their roles and responsibilities. Of the six officers listed, so far three have been identified who went on to become Generals.
1. Hptm. Schwab – on 1928 Rangliste as commander of 8th MG but transferred into battalion staff as at 1.10.28.
2. Hptm. Heberlein – Regt. Staff Officer. He became a very accomplished career staff officer and ended the war in a prison camp in Wales. Bridgend,Island Farm Special Camp XI (Special Camp 11)
3. Haverkamp listed as an officer in komp 6 in 1928 and joined the staff company on 15/1/29
4. Oblt. Rasp –was the battalion adjutant till 3/7/1927 and from then he was placed with the staff of the 5th Division in Stuttgart. This assignment I assume came about owing to his acceptance on the 1927 General Staff training course.General der Infanterie Siegfried Rasp - Lexikon der Wehrmacht
5. Oblt. Jank – the new adjt. of II battalion on parade or the chase…der Hunt. He remained in this position till 1932 when he too was accepted onto the General Staff course.Generalleutnant Karl Jank
6. Oblt. Mayer – working as the signals/communications officer. He was originally an officer with Komp 6.
The Battalion support staff/clerks:
Ordannce (support) clerk ObergefreiterHiergeist a veteran of WW1, FreikorpsEpp sleeve emblem visible above his rank chevron.
Officer mess orderlies………..presentation joke photo : note use of Bavarian Imperial Army Headgear.
and Dellling …………at your service.
Finally the band gets a picture all to its self!
A series of pictures recording the visit/inspection by Chief of the High Command General Heye on a very snowy day, date is 24/1/29.
The last day at the battalion for Obstl. Bauer on 29/1/1929. This follows his assignment to the Infantry School at Dresden to command the officers of the II Battalion. Interestingly this was where he had been teaching at the rank of Major during 1924/25 and 1926 before his promotion and move to IR19. Bauer was promoted to Oberst on 1/2/1930 and remained at this post till 1932.
His career is covered here:
Paul Bauer (General)
To conclude......
General Jank survived the war and passed away in 1975. I was fortunate to acquire this album in an auction as it was just advertised as a “pre-war photo album”. How it came to be on ebay will remain a mystery as, no doubt, will the whereabouts of any other albums he may have kept.
It has been a great opportunity and privilege to research this piece of history and bring to the forum some of the early career details and images of the personalities that led key Wehrmacht units in 1939 – 1945.
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Great to see some early photos of Wilhelm Adam !!
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