ITD 25

The beautiful insignia of the 25th Infantry Division is the subject of the present post. This division mainly brought together infantry regiments operating in the Austrian provinces. Its  headquarters was in Vienna. Its backbone was provided by the 4th Infantry Regiments of Vienna, the 84th of Wiener Neustadt and the 17th Infantry Regiments of Laibach (Ljubljana). The 1st Bosnian Infantry Regiment and three jäger battalions were also subordinated here. The best known of these is the 10th St. Pölten jäger battalion.

In the Great War, the division was first deployed on the Russian front. Until October 1914, in the II. Corps of the 4th Army and then in the 1st Army. They fought with the 1st Army around Lemberg in Eastern Galicia. They also took part in the great offensive launched in the spring of 1915. In the summer of 1916, after the Russian counterattack, the division was transferred to the XVIII. Corps that was part of the 2nd Army led by General Böhm-Ermolli. In this capacity they remained at the border of Galicia and Bukovina until February 1918, a little further south from their former positions. In the spring of 1918, the division was stationed in Czechia. In July, after the lost Piave offensive, they were sent to the Italian front, back to the II. Corps.

The badge of the division with the dominating Austrian colors describes the binding of the regiments that made up the majority of the troops. The red and white color combination also dominates the postcard chosen as background. In the middle the coat of arms of Vienna is seen. As a result of the thorough design and well-executed construction, the pieces of the badge found today are usually completely intact, and their enamel is mostly flawless. Due to the relatively large number of pieces, the badge is available, accessible to collectors, and serves as eye-catching piece of the collections.