Kappenabzeichen - Sapkajelvény történetek

March 13, 2026With great search effort, I had previously managed to find the exact location of the Seisera Valley on the map (description here). This place was important to me because of the Seisera badge, as it is one of the most finely crafted cap badges. It is a true artistic work, so it is worth investigating what it depicts. Basically, we see a soldier in mountain equipment on the badge, and in the background, an image of a high mountain range. The mountain equipment refers to mountain troops. Now I also managed to find out what specific unit the artist modeled. As usual, our friend “G” came to my aid again. While browsing, I discovered the image of the badge attached to a recent post. This, in turn, was part of a description written about the artist. According to the source, the artist was a certain Max Domenig, who was born in 1886 and was called up to the 4th Landwehr Regiment in Klagenfurt during the Great War, in 1915. This regiment later became the 1st Mountain Rifle Regiment. In 1915, the unit was stationed in the Pontebba region, where Domenig was wounded. The Seisera Valley opens south from the Pontebba area. It was possible to advance from Italian territory towards Tarvis through here and the nearby Predil Pass. These passes were defended by the Klagenfurt Regiment in the summer of 1915. The badge was made by Domenig in January 1917, when the regiment rested in the village of Nebria. Later in 1917, the unit was ordered from the Italian front to Bukovina and Ukraine, and then to Albania. Domenig died in 1952. In addition to the Seisera badge, I am attaching the beautiful badge of the 1st Mountain Rifle Regiment to this entry. [...] Read more...

IR 42

March 11, 2026This regiment has already been discussed here. I also wrote about the statues of the two grenadiers on the 42nd cap badges. Many of the badges with this motive were made, and they are often found, although the enameled ones are extremely rare. A photograph has now surfaced in which the oval type badge can be seen on the caps of two soldiers. [...] Read more...

Colonel Russ (3)

March 10, 2026I have described some of the stories of Colonel Viktor Russ here. Moreover, his beautiful cap badge with the coat of arms was already introduced in a wearing photo here. In this post, I present the postcard decorated with the badge. Such postcards and letter seals were usually issued by the aid foundations of regiments and divisions, so that the sales would help those in need. Here, the badge and the name of the legendary commander were used by another publisher. I can only assume that with similar helpful intentions. In any case, the badge and the card occur relatively often. [...] Read more...

Transylvania Guard

March 8, 2026Badges and photos of wearing badges are running out. I also have to touch on shots where the details of the badges are not clearly visible. This picture is one of them. In the company drinking wine and smoking pipes by the table, we see the same badge on six field caps. Still, I am unsure which one it is. On the back of the photo, German inscription only lists the names. Several of the soldiers are already in their 30s or 40s. So we are most likely seeing people from some Austrian Landsturm unit. The shape of the badge is a standing rectangle, with a curved closure at the top. After this shape the well-known badge of the Isonzo-Armee comes to mind most of all. But there were a few other badges with similar shapes. From there, you have to guess based on the lights and shadows of the badges. There is a strong diagonal line on the badge images. So the upper left and lower right parts are separated in the badge image. But there is some kind of decoration in both parts. Having rummaged through the possible badges, I would guess the badge of the Transylvania Guard with the lion. The small problem of the matter is that it is not very possible to prove how Austrian Landsturm came to Transylvania. But all kinds of command were possible. If any of my dear readers has a better idea, I would be happy if you would let me know! [...] Read more...

Major general Boleslaw Roja

March 6, 2026Roja was born 1876 in Brynce Zagorne, Galicia. In 1898 he graduated from the Wiener Neustadt Cadet School and was assigned as a lieutenant to the 36th Landwehr Infantry Regiment in Kolomea. From 1905 he was in the reserve and worked for the intelligence of the Monarchy. In 1914 he joined the Polish Legion, where from 1915 he was appointed as lieutenant colonel to the commander of the 4th Infantry Regiment. With his regiment he fought against the Russians first in the Lublin area and then in Volhynia. Having come into conflict with the Monarchy’s military leadership, he left the Polish Legion in July 1917 and joined the Austro-Hungarian regular army. As a major general, he was appointed city commander of Kraków in 1918. After the war, he participated in the organization of the newly formed Polish army. In 1922, he was retired, presumably because of his old conflict with Pilsudski. He was then elected a member of parliament and entered politics. In 1940, he was arrested by the Germans who occupied Poland. He was beaten to death in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp on May 27, 1940. Despite his conflicts and criticism against Pilsudski, his country respects and preserves his memory. This was also expressed by erecting a monument in his honor at the site of his death on the grounds of the former concentration camp. [...] Read more...

DR 12 assault troop

February 28, 2026A mysterious photo with a cap badge has come up again. Most of the soldiers in the photo are wearing helmets, which suggests that we are seeing an assault platoon in the photo. The NCOs are sitting in the middle: two sergeants, a platoon leader and a corporal. They are wearing field caps. And they are suitable for pinning a cap badge on. There is one in the middle, on the cap of a sergeant sitting on the ground. I recently showed another photo, in which we could see a similar oval, enameled badge. Unfortunately, due to the reflection of the shiny surface, the inscriptions on the badge cannot be seen either there or here. We can only try to guess which badge it is based on the shape of the badge. Here we see a badge where the oval central field is interrupted only at the top by the imperial crown. This makes the task much easier, because in most cases a small plate with an inscription was also placed on the lower edge of the badge. There is none of that here. Of all these, taking into account the elongated shape of the badge, we can think of the badge of the 12th Dragoon Regiment. The 12th Dragoons fought in the 7th Cavalry Division during the war. This supports the line of thought so far. The 12th Dragoons provided a company of strength to form the division’s assault half-regiment. So here, I think, the stormtroopers of the 7th Division, presumably the soldiers of the 12th Dragoon Assault Company, are seen in the picture in a photograph from the end of the war. [...] Read more...

Enver Pasha (2)

February 24, 2026I have already written about Enver in a previous post (here). I will not repeat this. He was an extremely important figure for the Turkish ally. Accordingly, his name came up when emphasizing the Turkish war effort. Yet, unlike several German generals, no badge was made depicting him alone. This may have been because he did not personally appear in theaters of war important to the Monarchy, unlike German generals who also led Austro-Hungarian troops on some fronts. The Viennese coiner Gustav Herrmann was primarily known for his World War-themed plaques. On one side of the plaques, a front section or weapon was depicted, and on the other, a portrait of the person associated with it. Interestingly, badge makers mostly made badges from sides depicting weapons (e.g. 30.5 mortar) or fronts (Isonzo Armee, Dardanelles, Turkish motorized squad, etc.). The beautiful scene shown on the plaque presented here, the guards of the Dardanelles, also appears on a cap badge. On the other side of the plaque, a nice portrait of Enver Pasha can be seen. No other plaque or badge from the period shows a similarly elaborate depiction of him. Interestingly, the badge manufacturer Winter and Adler did not take portraits from the artist’s plaques from the other Herrmann plaques either. Though such a well-known personality, who appears on many badges, as general Boroevic, can also be found on one of the plaques. Thus, Enver Pasha’s portrait did not appear on a cap badge produced in large numbers. I know of only one exception, the portrait of Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria that also comes from a Herrmann plaque (shown here). [...] Read more...

Palm branch

February 23, 2026The festive decoration of the field cap was the three-leaf oak leaf or, in winter, the pine branch. This motive was mainly used by the Arkanzas company as the background for various badges, mostly the names of the general staff of the Monarchy were placed on them. In the case of pine branches, a colorful coat of arms was also applied. Another group of badges had a background that looked more like a palm branch or leaf. A small engraved shield or enamel applique was placed on the lower part of these. These were mostly made for the Christmas holiday. There were also two types of palm branches, one with a narrower shape and rounded end, and a wider, with more pointed end. The post includes a photo of a soldier wearing a badge with more pointed end. The photo is a high-resolution Fortepan image. The shield attached to the badge can also be seen on it. This is a light-based, with darker pattern representation in the middle. This dark part is probably a red cross. Unfortunately, I have not found such a badge, palm branch with red cross yet. Several branches were decorated with a red cross applique, but none of them are of this shape. Since the badge templates were often made with various appliques, I believe that here too, a red cross applique was attached to the badge base made perhaps for Christmas. I am attaching the Christmas version palm and a red cross badge, which may have similar plate to the one in the picture. [...] Read more...

IR 25

February 19, 2026It was a regiment of half Hungarian, half Slovak nationality. Its headquarters were stationed in Losonc. It was one of the regiments of the 27th Division of the Upper Lands. This division distinguished itself in the defense of the Carpathians, since the bucks, retreating there, defended their own homeland, their villages, their cities. The division fought in the 2nd Austro-Hungarian Army until February 1918. At that time, they were transferred to the Italian front. First, they were in South Tyrol, and then in March they were transferred to the XXVI. Corps in the eastern part of Tyrol. During the June 1918 offensive, the 27th Division had to break through the Brenta Valley to the Italian plain. The 25th Infantry reached Bassano at great cost, but were withdrawn on the second day because the mountains surrounding the valley could not be captured and the enemy artillery stationed on them could not be eliminated. The regiment, like most of the division, was almost completely destroyed. During the Summer the regiment was reorganized and assigned to the XIII Corps. In October, it was sent to the Balkans, but it only reached Marburg. There, they received the news of the surrender. The soldier on the far right of the picture is wearing the featuring badge pinned to his jacket pocket. [...] Read more...

FJB 21

February 13, 2026The larger cities and garrisons were home to a variety of units. The higher commands also operated in the larger cities. Of course, the capital, Vienna, was the most significant in every respect. So all kinds of army branches were stationed here, including a field rifle battalion. This was the 21st, which belonged to the III. Corps unit according to the peacetime order. This had already changed during mobilization. The 21st Jager were assigned to the 44th division. They fought on the Eastern Front until June 1915, and then, after Italy entered the war, on the Italian Front until June 1916. At that time, the unit was again ordered to Bukovina, and by the end of the summer they were pushed back into the Carpathians, to Máramaros. At the end of the summer they returned to the Italian front, this time to the legendary VII. Corps. They fought here until the end of the war. [...] Read more...

Seisera and Max Domenig

IR 42

Colonel Russ (3)

Transylvania Guard

Major general Boleslaw Roja

February 9, 2026He was the commander of the 22nd Landwehr regiment. I could only obtain the most primary information about him. Almost nothing about his wartime activities, despite the fact that he was a very well-decorated officer as a lieutenant colonel. He was born in the small town of Stanau (now Stankov, in the south of Bohemia, near the Austrian border), in 1869. He lived a long life, dying in 1953 in Klosterneuburg, Austria. The photograph of him was taken on November 17, 1917. I found a description of an outstanding battlefield action. Emperor Charles bestowed upon him a noble title (von Grazigna) for this. For the successful defense of a height east of Gradiska, when he repelled the attack of two Italian regiments, personally leading the regiment’s command staff, and recaptured lost positions, while capturing 12 officers and 300 enemy soldiers. According to a document dated September 27, 1918, he received the title of knight from the emperor at that time. The 22nd Landwehr Regiment was from Bukovina, and its headquarters were in Czernowitz in peacetime. The photo in the post is interesting because the small horn badge number 22 can be seen on the commander’s cap. It means then, that these badges were worn not only by the Feldjagers, but also by soldiers of the Landwehr regiments. I am attaching the plate badge of the 22nd regiment to the post, on which the name Grazigna is also listed among the names of battlefields. [...] Read more...

DR 6

January 15, 2026The badges of the cavalry regiments are particularly beautiful and expensive. Many of them are beautifully enameled. The shape of the badges was often similar. This is especially striking in the dragoon regiments. The standing oval shape with the imperial crown on top is very common. That is why it is difficult to distinguish the cap badges seen in the group photos from each other. These full-body photos taken from a little further away could not capture the inscription of the cap badges, especially the motif on it. You can roughly guess what we are seeing based on the shape of the badge. However, since there are a number standing oval, crowned badges, it is difficult to choose. The oval shapes are of course not completely identical. There are longer and fatter versions. This is an important and quite easily recognizable criterion. The next characteristic, also related to the shape of the badge, is whether there is any protruding plate on the oval (on which the regiment number or perhaps the year was usually engraved)? And of course, the decisive factor would be the badge inscription itself, the central field, but due to the enameling, it is almost always distorted by reflection. In this Fortepan picture, I see the 6th Dragoon regiment badge as a possibility, but the 7th is also a strong candidate. The fact that the badge image seems to have a pattern of the L monogram seen on it speaks in favor of the 7th. At the same time, the crown of the 7th regiment’s badge is a little wider than what we see in the picture, and the shield below also seems to have a different shape. It is like that of the 6th Dragoons badge. Sometimes the puzzle is blurred even further as some artillery regiments also had oval badges similar to this. The 6th Field Howitzer Regiment, for example, could be considered. But the oval there has a different shape, so it can be ruled out. [...] Read more...

Colonel Franz v. Trenck

January 11, 2026Colonel Baron Trenck could enter the hall of famous personalities and generals because he was the hereditary owner of the 53rd Zagreb Infantry Regiment. Despite his military actions, though daring and successful, he still deserved the death penalty, which Maria Theresa changed from a pardon to life imprisonment. He lived between 1711 and 1749. His estates were mainly in Slavonia, hence the choice to become the owner of the 53. regiment. Trenck was a self-willed, unbridled soldier. First, he participated in the wars against the Turks as a Russian mercenary, and then he joined the War of the Austrian Succession. To help Maria Theresa, he recruited a mixed Croatian and Serbian-speaking crew on his estates at his own expense. They became the “Trenk-panduren”. Although his unit belonged to the Austrian regular army, he often carried out actions arbitrarily, without the knowledge of the high command or against its orders. For example, he robbed the Prussian king’s camp in the Battle of Soor on September 30, 1745, almost taking the king prisoner. This action was the last straw for him, as he did not march into the battle itself despite orders. He was subsequently arrested and imprisoned, where he committed suicide in 1749. Trenck and his pandurs enjoyed great popularity during his lifetime. After his death, he became a famous figure in Serbian and Croatian folklore. This popularity made him an hereditary regimental owner. Two beautiful letter seals were also made about him and his pandurs. The regimental badge is decorated with the coat of arms of Zagreb. [...] Read more...

IR 71 (2)

January 11, 2026The 71st Infantry Regiment and its plate badge have been discussed here before. At that time, the theme of the badge was the fortress in the background, which is on the outskirts of the city of Trencsén. Trencsén was the headquarters of the regiment, which operated mostly with Slovak personnel. In this post, the plaque serving as the basis for the badge is the main feature, as well as the postcard made from it. The military of the Monarchy, especially the units associated with cities and regions, paid great attention to providing war relief. Obviously, the public office of a larger city was the most suitable for this. The civil organizations participating in the aid work, often the local governments of the settlements, were at the forefront of the initiative. Thus, in many places, not only war nailing serving war goals in general were organized (you can read about this here). In many places, motifs related to the regiment appeared in public spaces and on various objects made available for the general public. [...] Read more...

Infantry and cavalry

January 7, 2026Sometimes it is not easy to decipher the connection between the many badges worn on field caps. The officer in the latest image of Fortepan has three badges on his cap. In addition, he also has a “medal” hanging around his neck, which, if you look closely, is identical to the badge of the 30th Honvéd Infantry Regiment. This badge was also made with a pin, and a leather strap could be threaded into the opening at the top, and the medal could be hung on a belt or around the neck. That’s not what’s interesting. It’s not even the badge of the 40th Division on the front of the cap, because the 30th Regiment belonged to it. The main feature is the two cavalry badges on the side of the cap. One is clearly recognizable as the Kappenabzeichen of the 8th Lancers Regiment. The other is from the 8th Cavalry Division. These two badges also belong together, the Lancers were assigned to this division. But how do the boots end up on the table, the cavalry badge next to the infantry? Usually, the caps were pinned with badges that the soldiers were personally attached to, mainly through their position. It is a fact that in 1916-17, both divisions, the cavalry and the infantry, fought in the Carpathians as part of the XI. Corps. So they could have been close to each other. I can only assume that we are seeing an officer who was transferred from the 30. Honvéd Infantry Regiment to the cavalry division. The tassel on the bayonet indicates that he was Honvéd infantry officer. He could have performed some kind of liaison function, perhaps. [...] Read more...

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2025I wish all readers of the site merry Christmas and lots of success, joy and good health for the upcoming new year! The card presented here was issued by the support fund of IR 83. The badge too. [...] Read more...

40 honvéd howitzer regiment

December 23, 2025This card has been hiding among my materials for a long time. The correspondence card is very often seen in the philatelic offer. Since it is constantly in sight, I forgot that it is indeed possible to write a post about this badge. All the more so, since the badge is a very detailed, beautiful work. Of course, it cannot be considered very rare either. It is worth noting some general information about the regiment that the Hungarian honvéd artillery only began to be established in 1913, first with the cannon regiments. As a result, the Hungarian honvéd artillery did not have any howitzer units or heavy artillery until 1915. The army divisions received “borrowed” howitzer troops from the artillery of the “joint” forces. From these, or from the batteries of the honvéd cannon regiments, the first howitzer divisions were formed after retraining. The number of the guns increased and thus the units reached the size of a regiment, both in terms of equipment and the number of trained artillerymen. But this only happened in 1916. In the artillery regiments of the Hungarian honvéd, the organizational framework of the howitzer units began to be established in September 1915. In March 1916, the 40th Hungarian Army Howitzer Regiment was formed, assigned to the 40th Infantry Division. The artillery brigade of the 40th Division, including the howitzer regiment, operated under the subordination of this division until the end of the war. [...] Read more...

4 rulers (2)

December 17, 2025It was inspiring for the war effort if international cooperation was demonstrated. Everyone looked with appreciation at Germany’s military capabilities and technical equipment. Turkey was able to provide a wide geographical perspective for the alliance of the Central Powers. War propaganda also tried to emphasize international military cooperation. Most of the propaganda badges of the Monarchy combined the national colors of the four allied countries. Often, soldiers from the four countries were shown, but in this regard, mainly the soldiers of the Monarchy and Germany were featured together. In some cases, we see joint portraits of the rulers on the badges. The best known and most common of these is the badge decorated with the busts of the four emperors. A postcard was also decorated with this Kappenabzeichen, which I have presented here. Now we can see a wearing photo with this badge. [...] Read more...

IR 12

December 15, 2025Another interesting photo from Fortepan. Four officers face the camera in Galician trenches. The sides and bottom of the trench, the wickerwork and the slatted footpath are interesting The installations prevented the soil from moving due to the heavy rain and helped traffic at the bottom of the trench. Three badges can be seen on the caps of three officers. Of these, the 12th Infantry Regiment is the most recognizable, where the design of the badge image also appears. A small triangular badge on the caps of the officer in the middle and left is the badge of the higher unit, the 33rd Division. The number is not visible on this image, but this badge is clearly visible on the cap of Colonel Magerl-Kouffheim, the former commander of the 12th introduced here. The third badge is seen more from the side, and judging by its shape, it may be the frequently seen badge of the Böhm-Ermolli Army Group. You can read more information about the 12’s history and battles here. [...] Read more...

13. Landsturm IR

December 12, 2025As is known, the second line of national defense was called Landsturm in the Austrian provinces and Népfölkelés (Insurgents) in the Hungarian part of the Monarchy. The mostly older reservists sent here mainly performed construction, supply and control duties behind the fronts. These troops were organized into battalions set up on a territorial basis, following the division of the Landwehr and Honvéd military organization. In addition, in the first year of the war, each Landwehr and Honvéd district also set up a Landsturm (or Népfölkelő) infantry regiment. These were not intended for frontline activity either, nevertheless most of them were deployed in the Galician battles already in August 1914. There, they largely crumbled by the end of the year, and most of them were disbanded. Relatively few Hungarian Népfölkelő regiments remained, slightly more Austrian Landsturm. These were later filled with soldiers of younger ages, so they became fully combat-ready. The badge of the 13th Landsturm Regiment still depicts the classic elderly, well-to-do daddy with a pipe in his hand. Don’t let the idyllic image fool you, the 13th Landsturm Regiment from the Sudetenland took part in many battles. The regiment was originally part of the Krakow garrison and the staff of the city fortress. In 1915, it was transferred to the 121st Brigade, then to the 92nd Brigade in 1916. They fought in the Hofmann Corps on the Eastern Front, then came under German command. From 1917 until the end of the war, they were a regiment of the 46th Rifle Division. They also ended the war on the Italian front. The wearing photo was apparently taken on the Eastern Front. On the left side of the picture we see Germans in helmets, on the right side are the 13ers. [...] Read more...

IR 52

December 12, 2025In several posts I have referred to badges as “non-existent”. These are the rarest pieces that I have not or hardly ever encountered yet. The protagonist of this post is a badge that does not really exist, a badge design presumably. Obviously, we are not talking about the very common badge, the one depicting the regimental owner Archduke Friedrich, but the depiction seen on the postcard. There are a few postcards on which you can see a badge design. Or at least we think so. Because the lack of actual occurrence of the object could also mean that only very few pieces were made, and they have all disappeared or are hidden away in the depths of collections, forgotten. But every year one or two never-before-seen pieces turn up. Maybe this promising-looking 1917 cap badge will appear one day. Until then, we will have to make do with the plate badge published here and the otherwise very decorative, bayonet version that I presented here. [...] Read more...

4. Army

December 10, 2025Army badges are among the first pieces for collectors of Great War badges. They were produced in huge numbers, and mostly in a variety of sizes and materials. The 4th Army badge, for example, was produced in three sizes and there were also copies made of steel, grey metal, tombac and silver. The badge was produced with the years 1914-15, which is the most common. But a year later, it was also produced with the years 1914-16, which is rarer. I have uploaded this version to this post. Postcards embossed with the image of the badge were also made. The copy shown here was decorated with a beautiful spring bouquet drawn by a soldier who had the time [...] Read more...

IR 71

December 9, 2025An incredible wearing photo of a barely existing badge has been found on Fortepan! The plate badge of the 71st Infantry Regiment depicting the Trencsén castle and the numbered flag badge are well-known pieces. However, the badge depicting a charging infantryman is very rare. A wearing photo of it is even rarer. Specifically, I know only this Fortepan find. The 71st Regiment belonged to the 14th Division, which included the regiments of the western part of the Highlands. Its headquarters was in Trenčín. Its personnel consisted predominantly of Slovak-speaking soldiers. In the initial stages of the Great War, they fought in Galicia and then in Bukovina, mainly in the IV. Corps. In the autumn of 1916, the division was transferred to the Italian front, first to the XVI. Corps (1917) on the Isonzo, then to the VII. and later to the XXIII. Corps (1918), on the lower reaches of the Piave. The battlefields and the year on the badge also refer to the fighting that took place on the Eastern Front. [...] Read more...

Tribute to the heroes!

December 5, 2025More than one and a half million of the population of the Monarchy fell victim to the Great War. This huge number (about 3% of the total population, 10% of the adult male population fit for service) includes those who died in combat on the battlefield, the seriously wounded and the sick who died in hospitals. Of course, they were all heroes who died while fulfilling their oath to their homeland and the monarch. It is another question how heroic their death was, how exemplary their battlefield activity was. It is obvious that the majority did not seek glory, danger (and death). But the majority fulfilled their duty and the orders they received and died in the process. From all this, the conclusion for me is that the gray, silent dead of the Great War deserve the same respect as those who died on the occasion of some special, noteworthy event. Thus, the badge in the post, which pays tribute to those who fell on the battlefield, pays tribute to all victims. According to the text in the background image, we see the dead corpses of 10th Battle of the Isonzo. They most likely rested first in a common grave and later in an ossuary in the huge war memorials built by the Italian government after the war. [...] Read more...

Papp Brigade (2)

December 4, 2025In the rapidly changing front situation during the years of the Great War, it happened several times that higher units, mostly brigades, or less often divisions, were organized from various troops at hand on the front line. Such was the recently presented Békési Brigade and such was the Papp Brigade. I have written about Colonel Dániel Papp of the Engineering Corps here before. He began organizing his troop of volunteers in Bukovina at the turn of 1914/15. This group rose to brigade level in 1917. At that time, the 5th Insurgent Infantry Regiment, the Russ Group and several other insurgent supply battalions were part of its staff. I have also written about its history here. The unit’s badge appears in a new wearing photo found on Fortepan. The interesting thing about the picture is that on one of the field caps we can also see the badge of the Russ battalion. The opening page shows the silver version of the badge. The war metal design is in the middle of the text. [...] Read more...

Békési brigade

December 3, 2025Lieutenant Colonel Békési’s Insurgent Brigade was formed in March 1915 from the remnants of units that had already suffered heavy losses. Its largest unit was the 20th Insurgent Infantry Regiment, which in 1914 fought in the 101st Infantry Brigade in the 1st Army organization in Galicia. After its disbandment, it transferred to the newly organized Békési Brigade. This unit operated until April 1916. At that time, its number of fighters shrank again to one infantry regiment, so from then on it was only known as the Békési regiment, or the 20th Insurgent Infantry Regiment. The regiment survived until the end of the war, first in the 215th Infantry Brigade, then in the 130th Brigade. At the end of the war, it was ordered from Ukraine to Orsova, but it was no longer deployed there. The special feature of the badge is that in addition to the regiment, it also commemorates the former infantry brigade. This is obviously connected through the person of the commander, Lieutenant Colonel Békési. It can be assumed that he ordered the badge for his troops. Yet, we do not see his portrait on the badge, but an infantry soldier. [...] Read more...

IR 106

December 2, 2025This regiment was formed from battalions of Western Hungary during the 1918 reorganization. Two were transferred here from the 83rd Infantry Regiment. The regiment’s commander was Colonel Antal Lehár, the brother of the composer Ferenc Lehár. A photo is well-known, showing the regiment commander holding his field cap with the badge of the 106th Regiment on. I have already presented this badge here. Now it has reappeared again, because in the Fortepan treasure chest I came across an extremely good photograph on which two soldiers are wearing the badge. It depicts a camp scene, a large card battle, watched by dozens of fans. It could have been made in the summer or early autumn of 1918, since the badge clearly refers to the failed summer Piave offensive. The regiment performed well in this, managing to cross the Piave River, but due to the call off of the offensive, they had to return to their starting positions. Another interesting thing about the picture is that in addition to the badge, the regiment number can also be seen on one of the caps. [...] Read more...

IR 47

December 1, 2025It was a Styrian regiment, its crew came from the mixed Austrian-Slovenian part of the province. Its headquarters was in Görz, its battalions in Marburg (Maribor). The regiment was deployed as part of the 28th Division first in Galicia at Zloczów, Grodek and in the winter in the defense of the Beskids, then in 1915 at the Dniester. In 1916 they fought on the Italian front in the Austro-Hungarian offensive in Tyrol, then in August 1916 in the southern part of the Karst, at Hudi Log and on Mount Hermada. After the breakthrough at the end of 1917 they were deployed in the area of Monte Asolone, where they were stationed until the end of the war. The regiment’s cap badge shows a mountain fortress in the background of a warrior with the helmet. This fort may even be the Fort Costesin on the Siebengemeinde Plateau, which was captured by the regiment during the 1916 offensive. [...] Read more...

IR 83

November 30, 2025Fortepan is a real treasure trove for researchers of old photographs. It even satisfies such exotic needs as wearing photos of Great War cap badges. What’s more, it publishes the best quality images without a doubt. This applies to the quality of the original images: there is selection. But also applies to the resolution of the available images: we get large image files. So it is not surprising that one of the best images in which the regiment number can be clearly seen on the flag badge evoking the register number of the infantry regiments comes from this collection. I presented the flag badge of the 83rd Regiment on an equally rare field postcard here earlier. [...] Read more...

IR 74

November 29, 2025The 74th was one of the Sudetenland infantry regiments. Its headquarters and one battalion were stationed in Jicin, and two more battalions in Reichenberg. It had a mixed Czech and German-speaking crew. It was assigned to the 29th Infantry Division, which was part of the XIV Corps at the beginning of the war, but this assignment changed frequently later. During the Great War, they were deployed on the Eastern Front until 1918. This is also evident in the battlefields listed on the field postcard used for the entry. Another interesting feature of the card is the color used, which is red, the same as the regiment’s lapel color. [...] Read more...

Categories

Latest posts

Recent comments

THE HIGHLIGHTS