Wow, Karen. Thanks for all the info. I will have to find my info on him and look. Thanks again. -----Original Message----- >From: KarenHob@aol.com >Sent: Jan 24, 2006 12:30 PM >To: GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: Re: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Austrian/Tyrol > >In a message dated 1/24/2006 6:16:17 AM Mountain Standard Time, >sgchewy@earthlink.net writes: >Is there any records of soldiers that fought in Tyrol during the war? My >ancestor was born in the 1800's and just before coming to the US in 1893 he >served in Trol. Can they be researched? >The only records of soldiers who fought in Tirol are the records of those who >were born somewhere in today's Republic of Austria. > >Or maybe those who were born elsewhere and recruited within the borders of >today's Republic of Austria. > >Many of the units that fought in the South Tirol were battalions from >regiments recruited in other lands of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. > >If your ancester was born in Bohemia and he fought in Tirol you may be able >to find out something about his unit in the German book: > >Die Sudetendeutschen im Weltkriehge 1914-1918 by Konrad Leppa. > >The book is available in the US via interlibrary loan. > >It is divided into chapters that are dedicated to the engagements in which >specific battalions were involved. For example, if you know your ancestor was >orginally recruited into Infantry Regiment 73, look for the pages that are >about a battalion from that regiment. > >Some of the chapters include soldiers' narratives and mention names of men >who were cited for bravery. > >Some of the book is in Gothic typeface and some is in Roman typeface. >The style of German is not all that difficult if you are able to read German >at all. If you get the book and photocopy the pages you want be sure that >you also photocopy all of the "Skizze" (little maps) that show battle lines >on given days so you have them as reference if needed. > >If you can pick out place names in the text like "Isonzo" or "Caporetto" >look for the phtots in the back of the book that are related to those locations. > >The individual records of soldiers recruited in Bohemia who fought in WW I >may be in the military archive in Prague. They would not be in Vienna. > >Vienna may be able to provide basic information about soldiers recruited in >Bohemia -- name, place of birth, regiment and maybe his place of death if he >died or where he was taken prisoner if that was the case. All they have are >about a million (!!) 3X5 cards with that basic information. > >To get information from Vienna you should provide the name, date of birth and >birthplace. If you know the regiment that recruited him, name that, too. >Otherwise they may find too many soldiers with the same name to process your >inquiry. > >If you don't know anything but the name and the approximate district where >the man was born you can still guess at a regiment. > >Use the 1898 recruiting map at: http://www.kuk-wehrmacht.de/regiment/ >as a starting point to suggest 1-2 regiments from the general area that he >was likely to have lived to the Vienna Archive. > >When WW I began the army was organized pretty much the same as it was in >1898. As the war went on there were several reorganizations. > >Visit Glenn Jewison's website at: http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/ >Click on Orders of Battle and then of Italy 1915. > >Look for the names of the units that were stationed in Italy. > >The abbreviation GbBrig = Gebirgesbrigade is for a Mountain Brigade. >These units were made up of various battalions detached from regular infantry >regiments. They wore an Edelweiss badge. > >Some were "Schutzen" battalions or "Jaeger" battalions and others were >regular line infantry battalions. > >The abbreviation: > >Baon = Battalion >1/29 = 1st Battalion of the 29th Regiment > >Look for any battalion that belonged to a regiment from Bohemia per the map >cited above. > >If you know the ancestor fought in the south Tirol then search first under >the order of battle for Carinthia. > >If you know he was already a veteran who had served and was mustered out >before the war started and over 30 years old when drafted, he may have been in a >Landsturm unit (made up of older veterans of prior service). > >If you don't understand the abbreviations used look at the bottom of the web >page for an explanation. If you need more information, send an Email to >Glenn Jewison whose Edress is on the home page of the site (bottom). >There is a possibility that there were also Bohemian Jaeger battalions in >Italy. > >Explore Jewison's website. > >If you want campaign maps for the war in Italy you will find some at: >USMA Great War Atlas. > >Search with that phrase to find the index of the atlas. You can download or >copy the maps and paste them to MS PAINT or another imaging program to save >them. MS PAINT will automatically print them in the original size which >takes several sheets of paper. > >Karen > > >==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== >Visit the German-Bohemian Heritage Society Web Page! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ >