Kappenabzeichen - Sapkajelvény történetek

March 25, 2025The Monarchy had 6 fortress artillery regiments and a dozen of independent fortress artillery battalions. The six regiments were stationed in larger fortresses and fortress systems. Such were, for example, the fortresses protecting Przemysl or the port of Pola. The battalions were responsible for securing smaller fortifications and valley locks, primarily along the Italian border. The 1st Fortress Artillery Battalion also had such a role in the eastern part of Tyrol, for example in the Dolomites. The location of the positional artillery strengthening the defense at the foot of the famous Drei Zinnen mountain group can be seen on contemporary maps. Part of the battalion was therefore not stationed in real fortresses, but in camouflaged firing positions established at strategic points of the defensive section. Their task was to repel attacks. Accordingly, they were not equipped with large-caliber, long-range guns, but with the usual field artillery equipment, the 8 cm field cannon, and the 10.5 cm field howitzers. The beautiful badge of the 1st Battalion was already included here. Now I have taken it out again to present it together with the newly discovered field correspondence card. [...] Read more...

Emperor’s birthday

March 22, 2025The emperor’s birthday was celebrated by the troops also during the war years. All contemporary reports and regimental histories mention this. It was a common custom. Franz Joseph’s birthday was August 8. So, based on the dating, the presented badge was made for the emperor’s 85th birthday in 1915. I tried to find a suitable photo or card for the badge. The closest match is a birthday a year later (the last), which was held in Cetinje, the capital of occupied Montenegro, with the parade shown in the picture. I would say that such a badge could have been given to the honor guard, but I don’t know if a celebratory badge was made in 1916. I also don’t know how widely the badge was distributed? Since the occasion was celebrated by all the troops, I assume that it was a centrally ordered and distributed badge. This is somewhat contradicted by the fact that I have not seen any other one besides the piece in question, so it cannot be very common. [...] Read more...

Assault half-regiment of the 11th cavalry division

March 19, 2025The Kappenabzeichen of the assault troop of the 11th Cavalry Division is an exceptionally interesting composition. It is rich in detail, obviously modeled on a contemporary photo with extraordinary care. Moreover, it shows the assault soldier from an unusual angle, from behind, who, in addition to the usual assault equipment, also has a fokos (battle ax) on his belt. The postcard used as a background also shows a similar picture. The postcard was made for the regiment’s donation fund. The cavalry divisions were used as infantry units at the end of the war, so assault units were also organized in the divisions. Usually, infantry divisions had battalion-sized assault troop. Former cavalry divisions, on the other hand, had assault half-regiments, which in theory meant a higher number of personnel. But it is also possible that these half-regiments corresponded in number to the infantry battalions, but since the fighting elements of the cavalry companies were smaller than the infantry companies, the number of soldiers in battalions and regiments in the cavalry was also smaller. Thus, the same number of assault soldiers came out for a higher organizational unit at the cavalry divisions. [...] Read more...

BHIR 1

March 16, 2025The regiment had Bosniak crew from the Sarajevo area, and it belonged to the 25th Division. This division consisted mainly of Austrian regiments, and the Bosniak regiment was complementing them. I have already written about the operation of the division here. The regiment’s badge only shows the Bosniak coat of arms, not the name and number of the regiment. Despite this, based on several indirect sources, this badge can be linked to the regiment with a fairly high degree of certainty. I can present it because a correspondence card published by the regiment has finally been found. This is a commemorative card received for purchasing nails for the cladding of the “Iron Bosniak” statue erected to support widows and orphans of the regiment. [...] Read more...

Skywalker

March 7, 2025To use a contemporary expression, we see a weapons insignia of aircrew on the postcard. I have never seen this or any other similar insignia depicted on a postcard. The insignia itself is not rare, the postcard is more so! [...] Read more...

Balkans pilot

March 2, 2025The uploaded photo is interesting from two aspects. The artillery lieutenant is an aerial observer, as shown by the balloon badge symbolizing the air force on his collar lapel. Relatively few photos of the air crew have survived, and this is a particularly beautiful studio shot. Another interesting thing is the Bosnia-Herzegovina-Dalmatia badge worn on his jacket. This badge was made for the force stationed in the military district bordering Serbia. It can be considered a front badge. We always think of the Balkan theater of war as secondary, despite the fact that the fierce resistance of the Serbs in 1914 contributed greatly to the thwarting of the Monarchy’s war plans. After the defeat of Serbia and Montenegro and the occupation of most of Albania, the Balkan front was completely relegated to the background. The British also had other things to do in Flanders and Mesopotamia, and the Monarchy’s military strength was also tied up by the Russian and Italian fronts. A weak corps-sized invasion force cannot be considered a serious military force in the circumstances of the Great War. That is why it seems strange at first that an air force was also assigned to an invasion force of limited size and strength. It should be noted that the development of the air force took place at a rapid pace after 1914 and the Monarchy established many new flying squadrons. But even with these developments, they were unable to counterbalance the Entente’s air superiority on the Italian front. This superiority became overwhelming in 1917, but even then several flying squadrons were used on the Balkan front. There could have been many reasons for this, obviously the squadrons stationed in Albania were not intended for air combat but for reconnaissance. There was one rather serious offensive operation of the Monarchy in this theater. Before the breakthrough of the Ottranto sea lock, the ports serving the Entente fleet were bombed, and there too, primarily the coal depots. The burning of coal reserves during the attack on the Italian and Albanian bases temporarily disrupted the refueling of ships. This significantly limited the maneuverability of the Entente fleet, which was very important for a successful attack. Marine planes from Cattaro and Durazzo also took part in this action. [...] Read more...

Lysonia

February 25, 2025The inscriptions on the badges are often difficult to trace, because there are no direct sources. For example, the 81st Infantry Regiment has a badge with the inscription Lysonia on it. For a long time, while the Internet uploads were rare, I could not even tell what geographical unit this name refers to. A village? A region? A mountain? After diligent reading, I finally managed to find out that it is a 399-meter-high hill somewhere in the vicinity of Brzezany. The 32nd Feldjager had a job here in the fall of 1916. They had to help retake positions lost by other units. It was known that this section of the front was defended by the German South Army, in which the Hofmann Corps also fought. There were mixed troops in this corps. Several newly formed Honvéd infantry regiments (308, 309, 310), Ukrainian legionnaires and the 35th Landwehr Regiment in the 55th Division, the 81st and 88th Infantry Regiments and the 32nd Feldjagers in the 54th Division. I first found a good map on Ukrainian pages that showed the area and location of the height. It shows that the Lysonia Heights is located south of Brzezany city on the east bank of the Zlota Lipa River. Based on the recollections of the Ukrainian sources, the 309th Home Guards and the 32nd Feldjager, the picture then unfolded. After the great breakthrough of the Brusilov Offensive, the Russians tried to push back the front on this Galician front section as well, but they did not achieve a real breakthrough here. Between the breakthrough points in the north, Luck, and the south Olika, this section held its own well and successfully resisted the fierce Russian attacks. These were the largest in September and October 1916. According to Ukrainian sources, after September 2, the 35th Landwehr Regiment stationed on the hill suffered heavy losses and was replaced by Ukrainian soldiers. In the second half of September, they also suffered more than 30% bloody losses during the Russian attacks and were also withdrawn. The 32nd Jager were temporarily stationed here at the end of September. After that, the 309th Honvéd Infantry Regiment was sent here, which held the front line until mid-October, when the Russian attacks subsided. They were replaced by the 81st infantry. The fighting was characterized by large mass attacks. The front lines changed hands frequently, and the captured positions had to be retaken by counterattack. The Hofmann Corps’ command praised the steadfastness of the troops in daily orders on several occasions. The defenses of the 54th and 55th divisions could not be broken through, but both divisions suffered heavy losses. In the center of the attack, on the Lysonia hill, the defending troops had to be changed every two weeks due to losses. The replaced units were rested and supplemented in nearby Brzezany. Two types of badges with the inscription Lysonia were made. Since the badge shows a scene of position construction, I believe that the badge of the sappers and construction companies working here was made first. The existing sample was used to deliver the order of the 81st badge later. It is interesting that the badge is dated 1917. There were also fights here this year, but not with the same intensity as the year before. The map above shows the town of Brzezany, from where the Zlota Lipa River flows south. To the east is Lysonia Hill 399, with the Austro-Hungarian positions in green. On the other side of the hill are the Russian lines. [...] Read more...

Sancta Barbara (3)

February 21, 2025In a previous post, I already presented a badge on which the patron saint of gunners, Barbara, was the main figure (here). Now comes another badge, on which the patron saint is also the feature. There were several badges on which the saint was depicted without indicating the artillery unit, but mostly, like the one presented here, the name and number of one of the units were written on the badge. I chose this piece from the many options because on this she is wearing a strange medieval cap on her head that can be seen on the postcard as well. The depiction of Saint Barbara was very different on the badges. Mostly, the beautiful female figure can be seen there, not so saintly, but definitely serious. On other badges, she is more of a girlish figure. Finally, there were also more profane depictions, on which she rides on the barrel of a cannon. But this is rare. This badge belongs to the 8th Field Artillery Brigade. The artillery brigades were assigned to the infantry divisions with the same numbering. So this oddly shaped Kappenabzeichen belonged to the artillery of the 8th (Kaiserjager) Division. This is confirmed by the two oversized mountain pines on the badge (they look more like hydrangeas). [...] Read more...

Bavarian ID 11

February 20, 2025I have classified this badge among the cap badges of the Monarchy. It belongs to a German (Bavarian) unit, and was made in Munich by the Deschler company. Yet it is here because it is one of the few German badges that could have been worn by Austro-Hungarian soldiers. This is also indicated by the fact that I have seen quite a few pieces of it in Hungary. It occurs more often than many other Kappenabzeichen of the monarchy. The 11th Bavarian Division was a unit of the German IX Army. It participated in the Gorlice breakthrough, in repelling the Brusilov Offensive in the Kovel area. In the second half of 1916, it participated in beating off the Romanians attacking Transylvania. I have already written about the battles fought around the Vulcan Mountains in connection with another German badge (here). It was then deployed on the Western Front. In Galicia and Transylvania it operated together with Austro-Hungarian units. It was at this time when many Bavarian insignia were distributed to Austro-Hungarian soldiers. [...] Read more...

UR 11

February 16, 2025I wrote about lancer regiments already, also about their beautiful headgear (here). I am attaching a badge depicting a czapka to this post, but also another, a second badge of the 11th lancer regiment. This is the regiment’s beautiful oval badge with the regiment number. Almost every cavalry regiment had some kind of badge, mostly beautiful and expensive enamel badges. The 11th Lancers are no exception to this rule. The color of the cap and cap badges produced in series was adjusted to the color of the headgear of the given regiment. Other enameled badges also used this color as a base color. Here, however, we see two different colors: yellow and red. Badge manufacturers sometimes made mistakes: the red color of the oval badge is correct, the yellow badge of the Arkanzas company is incorrect. The producer made an even more serious mistake, as they produced the insignia of two non-existent regiments, the 9th and 10th. The 11th Uhlans were mostly Czech-speaking, with a smaller number of Germans in the crew. Their headquarters was in Pardubice. They belonged to the cavalry brigade of the IX Corps, so they were mostly assigned to infantry divisions, not used as a full regiment. From 1917, they were only deployed as infantry units, like most other cavalry regiments. [...] Read more...

FSAB 1

Emperor’s birthday

Assault half-regiment of the 11th cavalry division

February 11, 2025The 56th Regiment was recruited from the Krakow area in Galicia. Its headquarters were in Wadowice. It was founded in 1684. It was part of the 12th Division. This division operated in Galicia and Bukovina until the summer of 1917. After that, it was transferred to the Italian front, to the Isonzo Army. The regiment’s titular owner was Count Leopold Joseph von Daun. Von Daun lived during the mid-1700s. He was the chief military advisor to Maria Theresa and the commander-in-chief of the Austrian army during the Seven Years’ War (1756-63). Under his leadership, the Prussian army of Frederick the Great was defeated at the Battle of Kolin in 1757. After the battle, Maria Theresa founded the Military Order of Maria Theresa, which was the highest military decoration during the further existence of the Monarchy. He founded the Maria Theresa Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt. His performance as a military leader is evaluated mixed. As a favorite of Maria Theresa, his will could prevail over his rivals. In addition to the badge of the 56th Regiment named after him, I can present the letter seal of the regiment’s support fund. [...] Read more...

San Martino: the tree of IR 46

February 4, 2025The 46th Infantry Regiment was on the front line in the San Martino area in the summer of 1915. Italian mass attacks were often directed against this part of the position. The village lies at the foot of the slightly steep southern side of Mt San Michele, which dominates the northern part of the Karst. Here, from the lower reaches of the Isonzo, a road crosses to the Komen plateau in a west-east direction. On the northern side of the road, the front line was pushed bck over the village. The Italians reached the southern slopes of Mt San Michele. They advanced as far as the Temple Hill, located north of the village of San Martino. This front section attracted the Italian attackers, since from there they could get into the rear of the defenders of Mt San Michele to the north. To the south, the troops defending the edge of the Karst were threatened with encirclement if Italians managed to break through here. The defense of the Temple Hill (altitude 197) was tasked to the 46th Infantry Regiment for a year from the summer of 1915. The fighting resulted in huge losses on both sides, but the location of the positions changed little. A small chapel once stood on top of the hill, which of course was soon destroyed. The grove next to it was likawise destroyed. The artillery fire not only shaved the trees, but mostly uprooted them from the ground. Only one tree stood firm, a mulberry tree, which, although it was directly behind the defensive positions, remained standing. Before the positions were evacuated in August 1916, the tree, which had already died by then, was lifted out and ceremoniously transported to the Szeged Museum. It can still be seen there today. You can read more about the history of the tree here. It is not surprising that the tree appears on the regiment’s commemorative badge, as does the name of the settlement where the tree is located, San Martino. [...] Read more...

IR 7

January 30, 2025The 7th Infantry Regiment was a regiment from Karinthia, headquartered in Graz. One of its battalions was stationed in Klagenfurt. I have already written about the regiment here. The Khevenhüller Castle, which can be seen on the postcard attached to the post, was also mentioned. This post includes the regiment’s flag badge. This is special because the Arkanzas company made flag badges almost exclusively for Hungarian regiments (for all of them). In addition, only a few Austrian regiments were served with this type of badge. One of these was the 7th. The post is also supplemented by a letter seal commemorating the event of the regiment’s anniversary. On May 29, 1848, the troops (16,000 men) fighting in Northern Italy under the command of General Radetzky defeated the significantly smaller 5,000-man Italian (Tuscan) corps in the Battle of Curtatone-Montanara. Perhaps the most important result of the battle was that the future emperor, Franz Joseph, saw military action for the first time here. [...] Read more...

Transylvania

January 27, 2025Archduke Joseph became the commander of the Transylvanian front line at the beginning of 1917. At the same time, the 31st Division was transferred from Galicia to this section of the front. In the photo, the Archduke is visiting the newly arrived troops. According to the photo caption, the soldiers of the 4th Battalion of the 69th Infantry Regiment are standing opposite him. The event took place on March 15 in Gyergyóditró. Two badges can be seen on Archduke Joseph’s cap. More precisely, only their outlines can be seen, the details cannot be made out. The shape of the second badge, however, is very unique. On it, the lion, depicting the troops occupying Romania, is heading for Bucharest between the borders of Romania. The whimsical line of the country’s borders can be clearly seen on the badge and in the photo. The photo was taken in March 1917. Bucharest had been captured in December of the previous year. The badge manufacturer quickly seized the business opportunity. The product reached the highest levels in two months! [...] Read more...

Rauchkofel – Pussterthal

January 23, 2025From the Hungarian perspective, the defense of Carinthia and Tyrol is a distant and difficult topic. Many smaller local units operated on this front, provincial riflemen and Tyrolean rifle battalions. Their assignments developed during the war and changed frequently. The border mountains of Carinthia were secured by the newly formed 49th “Pussterthal” Division. In the spring of 1916, the 96th Brigade and the 56th Mountain Brigade were assigned to this. The latter included two battalions of the 36th Landwehr Infantry Regiment, as well as the 162nd and 171st Landsturm Battalions. I have included all of this in advance because, according to a contemporary press report, they played a major role in the minor battle that is the subject of this entry were these units. What was the point here? The border region of Carinthia and Tyrol had been continuously attacked by the Italians since May 1915. In the rush after the attack, the Monarchy’s military command deployed here the troops that were currently available, regardless of their suitability for mountain warfare. For example, the 20th Honvéd Infantry Division suffered enormous losses in May and June 1915 in the area around the Plöcken Pass, in the terrain between the Kleiner Pal and Grosser Pal mountains. The Honvéds were soon replaced by the hastily raised mountain troops of the 49th Division, including the battalions just mentioned. The Rauchkofel mountain peak rises in the Dolomites, north of Mt Cristallo. The Italians occupied it in a raid a year later, in the spring of 1916. The Italian 208th Regiment attacked the Austro-Hungarian defenders there by surprise by climbing the steep cliff face. They overwhelmed the defenses and dug in under the peak. They were able to hold the occupied positions for a week against Austro-Hungarian counterattacks. The artillery fire caused significant casualties, and it was not easy to secure supplies from the steep side. On April 7, the Austro-Hungarian counterattack forced the Italians out of their positions on the mountain. The peak was returned to Austrian hands. The 121 surviving Italian soldiers were taken prisoner. Dozens of such attacks and counterattacks characterized the High Mountain War. I have wondered a lot in retrospect what was the point of this? I can’t imagine what the purpose of capturing a mountain peak at great losses could be, when behind it there is the next one, and then the next? It is obvious, of course, that these clashes were small skirmishes compared to the operations on the Karst, where a single day of battle often claimed many thousands of victims. I can only think that the Italians attacked mainly in those directions where they had territorial claims. They wanted to capture these areas. Not Carinthia. Therefore, they just demonstrated on this front section. The mentioning of this battle was justified by the photo of the opening scene. In this one, an Austrian buck in mountain gear is posing, according to the caption, after the capture of Rauchkofel. In addition to the divisional badge decorated with the portrait of Archduke Eugene, the badge of the 171st Landsturm Battalion, which may have participated in this enterprise, the counterattack, is also desirable here. The soldier in the photo may have belonged to this battalion. [...] Read more...

LIR 23 hat

January 21, 2025The 23rd Landwehr (later Schützen) Regiment has been discussed before (here and here). There I also presented two badges. This post will discuss a third badge. The Arkanzas factory in Budapest produced thematic badge series. Among others, enameled hussar shakos with different regiment numbers, similar lancer chapka, and to complete the sortiment of headgear, hunter hats were also made. Only a few of these numbers were released, not all from 1 to 32 for each “Jägerbattalion”. However, there was also a hat with the number 35. Yet, there was no battalion with that number. From this I can conclude that the series could have been made not only for the hunters, but also for the Landwehr regiments. The postcard attached to the post shows the ornate uniform of the Landwehr regiments. This was supplied with the same hat as the hunters. This suggests that they could also have used the beautiful enamel Kappenabzeichen. In fact, they may have been the intended users, since the Arkanzas company manufactured badges mainly for the more easily accessible Hungarian units wherever possible. This is clearly visible on the flags of the joint regiments, as we only occasionally find badges showing the numbers of non-Hungarian regiments among them. However, there are several numbers among the hats that do not indicate hunters with Hungarian additions, but Austrian ones, and many Hungarian battalions did not get a hat badge. [...] Read more...

SMS Temes

January 20, 2025It was a monitor of the Danube flotilla. It was delivered in Újpest in 1904 and put into service in same year. On the first day of the Great War, on July 29, it participated in the shelling of Belgrade. On October 23, 1914, it hit a mine near Grabovica and sank. After the defeat of Serbia, it was raised in 1916, repaired and modernized in Budapest. It was put into service again in 1917. In 1918, it first became a British, then Yugoslav, and later, from 1920, Romanian property. It was dismantled in 1955. The model exhibited in the Vienna Museum of Military History shows this ship, delivered in 1904. The history of the Temes is particularly interesting because in 1915, another, newer monitor was delivered under the same name. More precisely, this ship was named SMS Temes 2. The photo attached to the post shows this ship. The biggest difference is that on the previous ship, the two 120 mm guns were placed in separate turrets built on both sides of the ship. On the Temes 2, the two guns were installed in one turret on the ship’s centerline. After the Temes was raised, the Temes 2 was renamed Bosna. The Temes’ superstructure changed greatly with the modernization. Its armament was supplemented with two 9 mm dual-purpose (water-air) guns, which were placed on the stern in two new turrets on the centerline. The length of the ship also changed, becoming 3 m longer. The ship’s armament also included a 120 mm howitzer, two 37 mm cannons, and two machine guns. The ship’s armor was 40 mm, and the bridge and turrets were protected by 75 mm steel plate. The cap badge is crudely depicted, but judging by the tall funnel, its ship is definitely the 1904 version. [...] Read more...

Barack hospitals

January 16, 2025The Great War posed enormous challenges for healthcare. The healthcare capacities built before the war were already full in the autumn of 1914. Since no one expected the war to drag on, these were deeply undersized compared to the needs. Not only did surgical interventions appear en masse in the care of the wounded, but extensive and dangerous epidemics developed within 1-2 months. At first, dysentery, later typhus and other diseases also caused mass illnesses. Special epidemic hospitals had to be opened to treat ill soldiers. The rapid accommodation of the many tens of thousands of sick and wounded soldiers could only be solved by setting up many temporary hospitals. Of course, even if the number of beds could be increased quickly, the number of qualified personnel could not. The lack of doctors in particular was a serious problem. The topic of this post is temporary hospitals, barrack hospitals. These appeared in almost every larger settlement. The photo shows the temporary hospital in the city of Nyíregyháza. On the left is the waiting barracks for patients, on the right is an office building, according to the inscriptions. The badge was made for a similar institution in Budapest, patronized by Archduchess Augusta. It was built on the site of today’s József-Attila housing estate, and cared for many thousands of patients. Its wooden buildings survived the Great War. From 1919, refugees from the occupied territories of Hungary were housed there. Later, increasingly poorer population moved here, and it became a slum. [...] Read more...

30.5 (4)

January 15, 2025The 30 and a half mortar has been featured several times on this site. This post has two new features. I took the badge image, which unfortunately has a not very good resolution, but in return it shows the badge with the imperial crown. The other news is the wearing photo. This is an extremely rare badge, as it belonged to one of the mortar batteries, the 25th battery, which only had a few hundred men personnel during the entire course of the Great War. Moreover, the wearing photo shows a badge that the wearer has slightly modified and changed. He has removed the background from both the right and left sides of the gun. [...] Read more...

Towing dogs

January 8, 2025The use of dogs was regular in the Great War, if not massive. Different breeds were used to perform various tasks. For example, the dogs trained to search for the wounded were mainly shepherd dogs and Dobermans. Fox terriers were used to catch rats. Strong, large dogs were sought for towing carriages, such as the Bernese mountain dog and the St. Bernard. The dogs were trained and learned the tasks. This involved qualified dog trainers, who also supervised their care and the completion of the tasks during their use. There are only few dog badges. These show either patrol dogs or wounded searchers. There were no badges made for dogs placed in front of carts. It is also not entirely clear which troops the dogs were assigned to. I assume that the dogs used for carrying loads were kept by the train troop. The small carts, which can be seen in the picture, were used on mountain paths where even mules could not fit. I have attached the badge of one of the train troops to the post. [...] Read more...

Seisera

January 6, 2025I managed to solve a puzzle again. Of course, it may have been unknown only to me, but until recently, when internet diving is booming, it was very difficult to find information on very specific geographic names. One such name was Seisera. The badge is very beautiful, a coveted piece for every collector. The image of the soldier with high-altitude equipment on it is detailed and finely crafted. The equipment, of course, shows that the lanscape of the badge must be sought somewhere on the Italian front. But where? While searching for the high-mountain troops, it was not by chance that I came across not only photos, but also descriptions of events. For example, in September 1916, it became necessary to climb a steep peak of 1933 meters, because from this point it was possible to see the Italian positions on the upper reaches of the Dogna river. There, artillery was stationed, which could fire on the city of Tarvis. The report on the exciting action can be read here. In the attached picture, the valley at the foot of the mountain is called Seisera. This was the first clue. The Montasch mountain, the Dogna stream and Tarvis helped me find the Seisera valley as a kind of triangulation task. This ran along the old Italian border on the Austrian side, in the western foreground of the Julian Alps. As it turned out later, there was a fortress in the valley. Of course, it immediately became clear that it was also on my maps of the time, but without proper orientation I could not find the place earlier. The Seisera valley today offers the opportunity for extremely beautiful high-altitude hikes. The remains of the positions from that time can still be found in many places, as the trenches, battery positions and bunkers were all built into the rocks of the surrounding mountain ridges. [...] Read more...

High-mountain companies

January 4, 2025Before the Great War, the formation of units to protect the borders of the Alps had begun. The Tyrolean provincial rifle regiments and the Landwehr regiments of Klagenfurt and Laibach had been trained for the mountain warfare. Their equipment was also suitable for the high-altitude terrain. However, during the Italian attack, it became clear that the five regiments alone were not capable of defending the front from the Swiss border to the Adriatic, and needed strong reinforcements. Accordingly, these units with special capabilities were only used in alpine terrain where troops with conventional training and equipment were unable to perform satisfactorily. Not even mountain brigades. In addition to the existing five high-altitude regiments, additional units still had to be formed. These were the high-mountain companies (Hochgebirgskompanie). Their task was reconnaissance, guarding supply lines operating in alpine conditions (e.g. cable cars, high-mountain trails), and their technical maintenance. Their organization began in 1916, first as Streifkompanie (assault company), and then from 1917 as Hochgebirgskompanie (high-mountain company). The personnel of the companies could come from all over the Monarchy. The condition for entry was high-mountain experience, which, especially among officers, could often be proven by previous sports achievements. The companies consisted of three platoons, one of which was a machine gun platoon (with two Schwarzlose machine guns). They also had three mountain guide squads, two telephone squads and one technical squad. Their equipment was adapted to the high-mountain terrain. The equipment included a backpack, pole, snowshoes, snow goggles, boots, crampons, and from 1918, complete ski equipment, rope, gaiters, snow gloves, storm jacket, and white camouflage clothing. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any data on the activities of the high-altitude companies. The sources mention some outstanding operations, for example, in the Ortler Pass with the participation of the 24th company. The only surviving badge was from the 25th high-altitude company. I do not know whether there was any higher-numbered unit, or whether each of the lower numbers had a corresponding unit (I think so). [...] Read more...

Prosit Neujahr!

December 31, 2024I wish all my readers successful New Year! [...] Read more...

HR 10

December 28, 2024While browsing through the badges, the collector may notice that there are variations among the hussar shakos. This is not surprising, of course, as there are many badges that were produced in several series that differed from each other to a greater or lesser extent. This is rarer for badge series. The colored hussar shakos show us the shako colors and serial numbers of the 16 Hussar Regiments. Of course, the details on the badges are not exact, they differ from the original wear in many respects. But the badges differ all the same. In other words, the badge series is consistent, even repeating the mistakes. There are four badges where there is a difference between the copies. In each case, the color of the visor of the shako changes. These are the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 10th hussars. One version of the badge was made with a black visor, like the others, and the other was also made where the color of the visor matches the color of the shako. As a supplement to the post, I can show a post card bearing one of the regiment’s stamps and a letter seal depicting a battle scene of the regiment’s anniversary day. [...] Read more...

Blessed and merry Christmas!

December 23, 2024 Read more...

M 16 38 cm siege howitzer

December 20, 2024I don’t really know for what reason, but although the Monarchy was not able to produce the necessary quantities of even basic types of guns, it permanently developed large-caliber guns. I can understand this for the main artillery of the battleships, since it wanted to compete successfully with the Italians in control of the Adriatic. Despite this, it is a fact that both sides installed several naval guns on land to strengthen the heavy artillery. The Monarchy developed the brutally destructive 42 cm howitzer, which I have written about here before. Still, they felt the need to build a gun only slightly smaller than this behemoth a 38 cm siege howitzer. The first two pieces were delivered by Skoda Works just before the Tyrolean offensive in 1916. These weapons, named Barbara and Gudrun, participated in the defeat of the Italian fortresses. Encouraged by the results, the Monarchy’s military leadership ordered fourteen more pieces, and two spare barrels. Eight of these were completed by the end of the war. The gun was an enlarged version of the M 16 30.5 cm mortar and weighed a total of 87 tons. It was transported disassembled in four parts. The four trailers were driven by electric motors and could move at a speed of 14 km/h. The first thing to do in the firing position was to dig a 52 cubic meter pit, in which the gun base was placed. The remaining parts of the gun were mounted on this. These preparations took a full day. The ready-to-fire weapon was loaded manually, the projectile was towed by a hand cart and then manually inserted in the gun breech. The gun’s fire rate was one shot every 5 minutes. The projectile weighed 750 kg. The gun barrel could be set at an angle of 40-75 degrees. This weapon could fire the projectile at a maximum distance of 15 km. Of the eight pieces produced, two have survived up till today. Number six is kept in the Military History Museum in Vienna. The second “Gudrun” gun can be viewed in Bucharest. [...] Read more...

King Charles and the cavalry badges

December 18, 2024Emperor and King Charles visited the fronts a lot as heir to the throne, inspected the troops, and awarded decorations. He was wearing cap badges regularly at that time. In this post, I present a photo reproduced in the form of a postcard, on which two Kappenabzeichen decorate his officer’s cap. I have known the photo for a long time, but I can only guess based on the outlines of the two cap badges on it which ones they are. The one on the left has a more special, more articulated shape, so I suspect it is the badge of the 1st Hussar Regiment. I am more uncertain about the badge on the right. This is the common oval shape, with the imperial crown on top. There were several types of this shape. This badge is smaller in size than the hussar badge, the oval shape is thicker, more squat (there were more elongated oval shapes). Finally, we can see on the right side of the badge that it is framed by a laurel or rather oak crest. Based on all this, I think it is likely the badge of the 9th Dragoon Regiment, but it could easily be another badge. [...] Read more...

God punish England!

December 13, 2024A separate category is represented by the series of cap badges that curse the enemy. The most common theme is the renegade Italy, if only because the Monarchy was directly at war with the Italians. Although the Russians and the Serbs are also covered, and there is even a badge that mentions Japan, the other most common enemy country is England. The British were primarily the Germans’ opponents on land and at sea. However, the successes of the German ally were also frequently referred to in Austro-Hungarian war propaganda. Especially if the Germans were successful in some special operation. Such was the long-range bombing attack, which at that time was still often carried out with airships and zeppelins. The postcard depicts such an imagined attack. The other equally eerily mystical weapon was the submarine. The letter sail presented here shows German submarines swarming off the British coast. They intended to use submarines to cripple British merchant shipping, with less success than more. [...] Read more...

Assault trooper

December 10, 2024Assault badges are the strangest and most sought-after cap badges. This topic has been discussed many times. At the end of the Great War, there were even plans to introduce a uniform performance badge for assault troops, but this never happened. In this post, I will present one of the well-known badges from the Arkanzas company, which I think was an impressive design, and a photo of the badge being worn. The most famous motif, the skull, dominates the badge, decorated with oak and laurel leaves. The depiction of the skull bone is very realistic, this is why it is also scary. Above it, there is a flag badge in the photo, half-hidden. It has two numbers on it, the second one I think is a five. 25, 65 or 85? The flag is rather dark in color, so it could be the flag badge of the 85th Infantry Regiment. In the photo, we see someone from the assault company of this regiment. [...] Read more...

Prosecco

December 8, 2024This post is a little different from usual. Because its main topic is not really related to the Great War. Still, a little bit anyway. There is a photo that shows the town of Prosecco according to the caption. This is the same name used for the Italian sparkling wine that is so popular today. Prosecco is an essential ingredient in some cocktails, but it is also an excellent, refreshing drink in itself. I haven’t looked for the origin of the name so far, but now I found the photo and did a little searching. The town lies north of Trieste, and during the Great War, due to its proximity to the front, it may have been an important center for the troops’ rear units. Of course, winemaking there has much older traditions, and I think that Prosecco may have played a role in strengthening and refreshing the soldiers. That’s how the idea came to connect the town and the wine with the Great War. So that we also have a cap badge, I chose a badge mocking the Italian attack attempts against Trieste. Austrian eagle pecks Italian dog craving Prosecco. [...] Read more...

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