Aida sent me this note about a military pass. The note was written by the person submitting the pass. > He was in the battle of St Quentin on the Oise among one. He was sent to a > field hospital due to "pleurisy", etc. He served from 1916-1918. Lung disease probably killed as many (if not more) soldiers as wounds during most of the wars in which Austria was involved over time. Regimental churchbooks show the cause of death and I don't think I have seen a single page in a military church register that does not have at least 2-3 deaths due to Tuberculosis or other lung disease. About an Austrian soldier serving at St. Quentin in France: Very few , if any , Austrian troops served in France. The very great majority were all on the Eastern Front against Russia, in the south (Balkans) or in the Italian alps. Maybe there were some small units who were observers of what was going on in France or involved in getting supplies from there to the East. The German troops who served in France were almost all Prussians. Czechs and Slovaks who served in France were almost all expatriates who joined volunteer units or expates from the US, deserters from the Austrian army and men who fled the draft in Bohemia and joined up to fight the Germans in France, Russia and Italy. Their units were called the Czech Legion or Slovak Legion. I have not heard that these Czech and Slovak volunteer groups had any ethnic German soldiers in them since their main purpose was to fight the Germans. I doubt that a Czech serving in the French army at that time would have a military passbook in German so your ancestor may not have been a Czech Legionaire. There is an English website for WW I Austrian engagements and where the various units of the army served http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/ The pages showing Orders of Battle explain which Austrian units were tied to which larger army group and where they were serving. Karen