16. Garde-Infanterie-Regiment von Lessbesitz "Schützemup" - Recruiting Mature NA

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"A strong brave knight must always ride
With Death and Devil by his side.
The Devil is his lancer man
Sticking the soft parts when he can."
-Walter Heymann


History:

The 16. Garde-Infanterie-Regiment von Lessbesitz was raised in 1914 by Albrecht Lutz von Lessbesitz, originally as a militia to defend the small town of Au during an uprising which lasted four months. While the revolt was in Au, the group was raised a few miles away, in the Der Betrunkene Schweine pub, merely minutes before it was burnt to the ground by the very same group. The revolt was suppressed within minutes upon the militia group arrived at Au--today, historians still struggle to find how the revolt was suppressed, as well as if the 16te Lessbesitz even existed in the first place. Emperor Wilhelm was pleased with Albrecht Lutz von Lessbesitz, and awarded him the rank of Oberstleutnant and command of the 16. Garde-Inanterie-Regiment von Lessbesitz.   The Great War soon followed the 16te Lessbesitz formation. As the regiment was mustered, it served as reserves for the German army, near the boarder of Baden-Württemberg and France. It was finally deployed December 19, 1914 to fight France on its boarder. The regiment first saw combat with the 1st and 2nd companies. About 180 infantrymen, armed with Gewehr 88, fought in a skirmish with French soldiers on the border of Württemberg. Lead by Kapitan Alexander Kecht (first company) and Kapitan Charles Wertum (second company), the 16te surrounded the French just within two hours. While the French suffered a small loss of eighty-three killed, twenty-two wounded, and forty-five routed, the Germans had seventeen killed and twenty-four wounded.   The first, second, and third companies held defense in Baden from the sixth of January to the third of February, and the fourth and fifth companies held reserves in Ulm from the fourth to the twenty-eighth of January. The remainder of the regiment was designated as reserves in Berlin from December of 1914 to February twenty-fifth of 1915. Companies 1-3 had captured six French scouting parties and snipers of the first company had forced three more to route.

Soldiers of the second company; near Au

Second company on guard in Baden-Württemberg

In late-1915, the 16te was reequipped with Gewehr 98 and Maschinengewehr 08. The first three companies were assigned five Maschinengewehr 08 each, and every infantryman of said companies were given the Gewehr 98. As Germany fought on in the Western Front, the 16te was sent (first-fifth companies) into France to reinforce various positions.   Nineteen-sixteen was a year of suffering for Germany. In the battle of Verdun, both France and Germany took considerable losses during the ten month battle. In early June, the 16te arrived to the battlefield to participate the offensive on Fleury ridge. The deployed soldiers and two machine guns were to hold the area around the Fleury ravine upon the instance that French lines advanced far enough that German artillery would be hazardous.   Upon the French assault on the ravine, the 16te held for thirteen hours before being called by General Schmidt von Knobelsdorf to pull back towards the rest of the German forces. What was likely an attempt to postpone the French advance at the cost of many German lives was actually an effective engagement between German and French soldiers, which stalled the French for approximately two to three hours after the 16te's retreat.

The retreat from Verdun occurred for the 16te during the ceasefire between November and December. After taking brutal casualties from remaining French artillery and participating in various minor engagements while raiding abandoned trenches, the 16te was called to Berlin for an assessment. Two-hundred and twenty-three men returned, forty less than what was called for (most likely, those forty remained on the battlefield unaware of their unit's retreat). The battalion had suffered roughly three-hundred and fifty casualties during the Battle of Verdun. Ninety-three das Verwundetenabzeichen (Wound Badges) were given to the returned injured. One medic who had treated some of the 16te soldiers stated "It's shocking that these men lasted so long under their conditions, I would have expected them to have been far dead by now. Most at least, but most are surviving."   For the battalion's efforts during the battle, over thirty Iron Crosses were awarded. For their time spent in the battle, the 16te had one of the highest medal counts of the battle.

German artillerists demonstrating their firepower

Survivors of the 1st and 2nd companies soon after Verdun

After the Treaty of Versailles, the regiment was disbanded. A company worth of men were stationed in Germany's reserves. Fifty-or-so veterans of the regiment had formed the Club of Veteran, a Gentleman's club in Munich, which had eventually faced a police intervention and was shut down in 1934. A veteran from the third company, Unteroffizier --- Schwartz, had reportedly gone insane sometime between the war ending and 1929, when he had murdered six cattle in farmland Hesse, and painting sections of wheat field with the entrails, spelling out "The Kaiser Killed Us". The local police had done their best efforts towards preventing the story from spreading, and succeeded. Another report told of a Soldat --- Hermann, who had been found painting a large painting of a seemingly endless farmland while in the streets of Berlin. When confronted by a bystander, he quickly poured alcohol on the canvas and lit the painting on fire, before screaming and running away. Civilians reported hearing a faint cry from him as he fled, which sounded something like "O' the o' day", but the man was thought of as simply a nut and investigation was never pursued.

Structure:

Company Structure					Rank Structure
Zug 1 - Squad 1 Kapitan (Captain) Fähnrich (Pl.Sergeant) Gefreiter (Corporal) Gefreiter (Corporal) Infanterist (Private II) Infanterist (Private II) Infanterist (Private II) Soldat (Private) Soldat (Private) Soldat (Private) Zug 1 - Squad 2 Leutnant (Lieutenant) Feldwebel (Sergeant) Gefreiter (Corporal) Gefreiter (Corporal) Infanterist (Private II) Infanterist (Private II) Infanterist (Private II) Soldat (Private) Soldat (Private) Soldat (Private) Zug 2 - Squad 1 Oberleutnant Fähnrich (Pl.Sergeant) Gefreiter (Corporal) Gefreiter (Corporal) Infanterist (Private II) Infanterist (Private II) Infanterist (Private II) Soldat (Private) Soldat (Private) Soldat (Private) Zug 2 - Squad 2 Leutnant (Lieutenant) Feldwebel (Sergeant) Gefreiter (Corporal) Gefreiter (Corporal) Infanterist (Private II) Infanterist (Private II) Infanterist (Private II) Soldat (Private) Soldat (Private) Soldat (Private)					German:     English:     Abbreviation: Kapitan     Captain     Kpt Oberleutnant     First Lieutenant     OLt Leutnant     Second Lieutenant     Lt Fähnrich     Ensign     Fahn Feldwebel     Sergeant     Fwbl Gefreiter     Corporal     Gfr Infanterist     Infantryman     Inf Soldat     Soldier     Sdt Rekrut     Recruit     Rkt

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Reserved

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Reserved

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Vorwärts! Sieg ist unsern!