2nd Westphalian Field Artillery Regiment No. 22

The 2nd Westphalian Field Artillery Regiment No. 22 was also part of the permanent garrison of Münster.

The 2nd Westphalian Field Artillery Regiment No. 22[1] was founded on 24 October 1872.

The formation arose through a division of the Westphalian Field Artillery Regiment belonging to the 7th Artillery Brigade and received the designation 2nd Westphalian Field Artillery Regiment No. 22 on 7 May 1874.

The regiment was stationed in Münster from 1872.

Two battalions, however, were garrisoned in Minden at times: the II Battalion 1872–1899 and the IV Battalion 1893–1899.

In 1899 these two battalions formed FAR 58.

In 1914 the field artillery regiments had 2 battalions, each with 3 horse-drawn batteries.

The former barracks of the Mounted Artillery was the Berg Barracks at the Buddenturm. In addition there were other locations and stables in the town.

There was also a laboratory in the Johannis Commandery and an artillery school as well as, from 1818, an artillery laboratory at the Kreuzschanze. The latter was relocated from the city center to the outskirts in 1889/90.

There was an artillery depot on Steinfurter Str.

From 1894 the new barracks on Grevener Str. were occupied.

The regiment belonged to the 13th Division and there, together with the Minden Field Artillery Regiment No. 58, formed the 13th Field Artillery Brigade.

In the Imperial Army a distinction was made between field and foot artillery, the latter essentially comprising heavy artillery. The former comprised mobile and mounted batteries, namely — from 1887 — nine batteries per regiment and, from the early 1890s, twelve batteries[2].

The commanders of the unit over time were: Minameyer (1872), Mertens (1873), Herrfahrdt (1879), Bleckert (1881), Richter v. Steinbach (1883), v. Preffentin (1889), v. Haenel (1894), Frhr. Schuler v. Senden (1897), Mühlmann (18899) and Hoffmann (1901).

The last commander in peacetime (from 22 April 1912 until 31 October 1914) was Colonel Zunker.

The gunners of the 2nd Westphalian Field Artillery Regiment No. 22 wore a dark blue tunic with black collar and matching Swedish-style sleeve cuffs together with red pipings.

Previously the tunic had so-called Brandenburg sleeve cuffs.

The buttons were tombak (yellow).

The dark blue cap (called Krätzchen) had a black trimming band with red (ponceau red) pipings (around the cap rim and around the edges of the trimming band).

The riding or wool trousers were dark blue-mottled and had a red piping. The former had a black leather seat.

The service dress included the black-lacquered leather helmet with yellow fittings. The heraldic eagle served as helmet ornament. A ball finial was typical for the artillery.

Metal scale chains were worn with the helmet.

The leather equipment was white.

In the field artillery, in addition to gun crew duties, training in riding and driving was required. Riding training resembled the practice used in the cavalry.

Drivers had to be able to master a team-drawn — six-horse — gun at all gaits and on all types of terrain; they had to be able to turn the team for mounting and dismounting and to overcome obstacles. In the mobile batteries the crew rode on the gun limbers; in the mounted batteries they followed the guns on horseback.

The drill regulations for the foot artillery stated that, together with the field artillery, it should pave the way to victory for the infantry. Therefore, emphasis should be placed on good shooting. Prerequisites for this were mastery of the gun, mobility of the troop and the tactical understanding of the leaders.

Aim practices and training shoots were therefore essential prerequisites for good shooting in the artillery; additionally, fire control and the transmission of messages had to be trained for both the field and foot artillery.

The field artillery could change training grounds more frequently, as it was more mobile than the foot artillery.

From 1907 the field-gray uniform was introduced as an adaptation to the conditions of modern warfare.

The features of the field-gray uniform for the field artillery were as follows:

The cap consisted of field-gray cloth with a black trimming band and ponceau-red pipings around the rim of the cap and around the edges of the trimming band.

The field-gray tunic had ponceau-red piping down the front and on the rear pocket flaps.

The stand-up collar had a black piping.

The sleeve cuffs were Swedish-style as in the peacetime uniform and had a black piping at the upper and lower edges.

The shoulder straps were also field-gray and had a piping in the color of the shoulder straps of the peacetime uniform. The insignia (number and bursting grenade) was red.

Tombak buttons showing a crown were worn on the tunic.

The field-gray riding breeches had a corresponding riding seat.

The field-gray wool trousers had ponceau-red pipings on the side seams.

On the coat the shoulder straps of the tunic were used.

For the 2nd Westphalian Field Artillery Regiment No. 22 a corresponding war memorial was erected in the castle park in 1923. The design was by the artist Alexander Frerichmann and depicted/shows an approximately life-size figure of an artillery driver on a pedestal. Both hands rest on a sabre. The front is decorated with an iron cross wreath of laurel. A laurel-wreathed steel helmet appears on the side.

The inscriptions contain a binding call to permanent combat readiness and are driven by the idea of revanche.

The monument is dedicated to the fallen of the aforementioned unit and its offspring formations. The names of the fallen are kept in the interior of the monument.

The 2nd Westphalian Field Artillery Regiment No. 22 suffered 52 fallen officers and 343 dead non-commissioned officers and enlisted men.