29th Insurgent Infantry Regiment

Relatively little is known about the insurgent battalions and regiments of the Monarchy. There are several reasons for this. These regiments received reservists of older age groups. They were not meant for the front lines. According to the plans, their task was rather to provide the military security and operation of the hinterland. Despite this, they were already on the battlefield as early as in August 1914. So, for example, my great-grandfather, the sergeant of the 11th insurgent infantry regiment, soon moved from the staff of the Przemysl fortress to the area of ​​Lemberg. Here, the insurgents sent as reinforcements also suffered serious losses. The same thing happened to a number of other insurgent regiments. So, in the spring of 1915, the remnants of most regiments were merged into the infantry regiments of the Honvéd. Only a few insurgent regiments remained intact. One of them was the 29th Budapest regiment.

This regiment belonged to the repeatedly renamed 16th Insurgent Mountain Brigade (later the 216th Honvéd Infantry Brigade). From 1915, the brigade fought first on the Italian front on the Karst, and later in Transylvania. Throughout the war, it was in front-line use, so much so that an assault battalion was even formed from its staff in Transylvania. The badge commemorates this regiment fighting shoulder to shoulder with the younger generations.

It should be noted that the mixing of generations became more and more important during the Great War, as recruitment was extended to newer and newer age groups. It should also be known that, from 1915, the majority of the insurgent units primarily performed the tasks originally intended for them. At that time, they were already divided into battalions and even companies. The supply and construction squadrons and battalions served in the areas behind the fronts or in the hinterland. Thus, for example, the 29th regiment also had several supply battalions, which operated completely separately from the front line regiment. The field post card shown in this post belonged to such unit, the second supply battalion and was written by the commander of the battalion. According to the unit stamp on the card, the battalion was assigned to the office of the 29th Uprising Command in Budapest. Presumably, his task may have been to equip the newly enlisted crew, to organize the enlistment, equipment and training of the freshmen.