IR 26

This was the house regiment of the city of Esztergom. Its crew was recruited from the population of Esztergom, Bars and Hont counties. They were mostly Hungarians and to a lesser extent Slovaks. The regiment belonged to the 65th Infantry Brigade and the 33rd Division. The brigade’s commander was Colonel Karl Magerl von Kouffheim, details of which can be read here.

In the framework of the 33rd Division, in the first half of the war, they fought on the Russian front, assigned first in the 5th and then in the 4^th corps. In the winter of 1914-15, they took part in the defense of the Uzsok Pass in the corps of Lieutenant General Szurmay. After the Gorlice breakthrough, they were on the border of Galicia and Bukovina. In October 1917, they were transferred to the Italian front, where they soon reached the Piave front. The 33rd division took part in the big offensive in June. Their task was to cross the river through the island of Papadopoli. The loss-making attack was unsuccessful. IR 26 was moved to the III. Korps and took part in the June offensive near Asiago (thank you Luigi for this information!). The end of the war found the regiment in this position.

I think the group photo attached to the post could have been taken in the summer of 1917 in Galicia. Three soldiers wear the regiment’s badge on their caps, pinned between the two front buttons in the middle. The inscription on the badge is “We will stand all times!” It indicates well the mood of the period. The war euphoria is long over, but service to the homeland is a duty. It is a very expressive, clean badge in its simplicity. There was a simple sheet metal and an enameled version as well.