76 trombones

joerookery

joerookery

Well-known member
... make a big parade...

There is a basketball team in Philadelphia called the 76ers. But who/what is this? I know there is a Marburg on the river Lahn -- is this the place?

jb76.jpg

jb76_1.jpg

jb76_2.jpg
 
I guess this means "Marburg i. H." for in Hessen which would fit geographically. There are both a photographer and a family Maas in the Bahnhofstraße but not related. The area around the main train station was devasted during the WW2 so the address is probably gone.

BTW, is this 220213907227 ?
 
BTW, is this 220213907227 ?
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Yes this is. I cannot see who I am bidding against -- the privacy rules and all.

But why does this guy wear the number 76? Marburg in Hesse -- is that the same city that the Jager battalion is from? With the university on the Hill? The number is what throws me.
 
joerookery said:
But why does this guy wear the number 76? Marburg in Hesse -- is that the same city that the Jager battalion is from? With the university on the Hill? The number is what throws me.
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Why Joe? There were scores of Ersatz Jäger battalions and even Regiments raised during the war. The units up to 1914 are very straight forward. After Aug 1914, good luck. I don't even try to make sense of it any more, especially as there does not seem to be any one usable 'list' of wartime units that I am aware of. Plus, the photographer's city is just a hint, it does not mean that this is where the unit was from. It just means the soldier was in that city when he went to have his photo taken, he could have been visiting Oma.

After thought: Some of these Ersatz units were dressed like the pre-war units, so perhaps this Ersatz Jäger Btln was raised by the local unit, Kurhessisches Jäger-Batl.Nr.11 (Marburg) XI Armee Korps. Not Hessen by the way.....
 
After Aug 1914, good luck. I don't even try to make sense of it any more
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I do! It will certainly help a lot should Kraus ever finishes work on the units. There is no way I would have ever made sense of the artillery without his books. I know that makes me some sort of a unit geek but I enjoy it.

Turns out I solved my own question. Jager units were easy. They stopped somewhere in the high 20s. Who else could it be? Telegraphe, aviation, Landsturm? I understand the lack of definition of the photographer -- it is only a clue -- but it did give me a region -- and by dissecting the XI corps area I was able to find the Landsturm brigade area that cover the photographer and was numbered -- you guessed it -- 76. So this was a Landsturm soldier probably from the Bezirkskommando organized in Sonderhausen. Probably what became XI3 after the change. I should've looked at this first. So some sort of a cover to the hat. Interesting...
 
Starting to look like an answer to some old questions Joe. There were (perhaps) Brigade uberzugen after all.

Too bad we can't see his shoulderboards, as he has no collar flash or collar dogs, and he is armed with a Gewehr 98, I wonder if he is Landsturm. Any date?

Maybe an Ersatz Reservist of I.R. 76? What Brigade Region was VIII Armee Korps part of?
 
Unfortunately, he is wearing an Vereinfachte Feldrock with barrel cuffs; it would be 'easier' if he was clearly wearing Swedish cuffs which would make him Jäger and Schützen etc, or Brandenberg cuffs which would ID him as Landsturm. However, he is wearing a Tschako, and early war Landsturm guys typicially do not cover their old M1860 Tschakos with Überzugs. Plus, Überzugs were designed to cover post-1892 Tschakos, and probably would not fit on an M1860 pattern.

Kraus in his two volume set lists the Reserve Jäger and Schützen units in Vol 1 pp. 477-486. I suspect there is missing info, for example he lists no reserve Schützen units, when for example, the 4th Cavalry dismounted Division had on strength, the 87 and 89 reserve Schützen Regts. Presumably, these guys wore Swedish cuffs and a Tschako.

But back to your photo Joe, I vote that he is might be with Reserve Radfahrer Komp 76 as these guys were dressed as Jäger.
 
I vote that he is might be with Reserve Radfahrer Komp 76 as these guys were dressed as Jäger.
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You know I never even considered that -- it did not cross my mind at all -- good point. Now I have to chase down all these other units! I actually like this.

Überzugs were designed to cover post-1892 Tschakos, and probably would not fit on an M1860 pattern.
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Or is this just the first one we've seen? I don't know.
 
Reserve Radfahrer Komp 76 as these guys were dressed as Jäger.
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The plot thickens -- I don't know if there is ever a way to tell but this bicycle unit had the same recruiting area as brigade Ersatz battalion 76. Both from Hesse in the XI corps area. No letter R on the the Uberzug...
 
joerookery said:
No letter R on the the Uberzug...
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No, but it has to be reserve. That high a number in a Tschako, I cannot see how it could be anything else but a Reserve unit. I have always thought the "R" on covers was not always adhered to.
 
I cannot see how it could be anything else but a Reserve unit.
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I can see it as the bicycle unit but why could it not also be the Landsturm brigade Ersatz battalion?

I have always thought the "R" on covers was not always adhered to.
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I would tend to agree with your thought.
 
joerookery said:
// but why could it not also be the Landsturm brigade Ersatz battalion?//
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Could be Joe, but to me, he just does not have the 'look' of a Landsturm. Most photos of Landsturm wearing the old M1860 Tschako, they are wearing the Landsturm Litewka with upper breast pockets and armed with some old rickety M1871 or Commission rifle etc.

Your fellow is wearing a Bluse, which was first authorized in September 1915, and I suspect it was some months after that until the first ones were issued, which places this fellow probably after 1916 or even later. He is also armed with a Gewehr 98.

The M1860 Tschako was retired on 02 March 1915 for Landsturm and replaced with the Pickelhaube, so if this guy was Landsturm, if he is wearing a shiny new Bluse, by that time he would be wearing a Pickelhaube as well.

In my mind, Bluse + Tschako + Gewehr 98 is a front line soldier, not a crusty old Landsturm.
 
Great discussion guys, very interesting and another tribute to the value of these period fotos! That is a very tight fitting uberzug. Brian
 
A reply from a collector friend in Deutschland who only collects to Kurhessisches Jäger-Batl.Nr.11 (Marburg) XI Armee Korps and who saw this thread:
Hans-Josef said:
Hallo Tony,
I am following enthousiastic the currently discussions on the forum of pickelhaubes.com. There was the question what kind of unit concerning the guy with number 76 on the tshako cover.

The picture was taken at a Atelier in Marburg at Lahn in Hessia. The Boy is member of the Res . Bicicle-Company Nr. 76 of the Res.Jäger-Batl. Nr. 24. This Reseve-Jäger-Batl ( # 24 ) was the second Reserve unit of the original Kurhessian Jäger-Batl. Nr. 11. The Jägers of the yellow M with a crown on the shoulder straps. (The first one was Res-Jg-Batl Nr. 11)
The bike-company was attached as number five to the others 4 Jägercompanies of Nr.24
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