Infantry Regiment Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1st Westphalian) No. 13

Almost all branches of the armed forces were also represented in the Münster garrison. Some formations were particularly closely associated with the city of Münster as their garrison, namely: the Infantry Regiment Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1st Westphalian) No. 13, the 2nd Westphalian Field Artillery Regiment No. 22 and the Westphalian Train Battalion No. 7. While the Infantry Regiment Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1st Westphalian) No. 13 enjoyed great popularity especially among the urban bourgeoisie, the Westphalian nobility served in the Cuirassier Regiment von Driesen (Westphalian) No. 4 and the enlisted replacements came in particular from the rural milieu.

The Infantry Regiment Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1st Westphalian) No. 13 was formed in the context of strengthening the new Prussian army during the Wars of Liberation and was assembled from four newly established battalions, namely from the III Battalion of the 1st East Prussian Infantry Regiment, the 1st and 2nd East Prussian Reserve Musketeer Battalions and the 1st Lithuanian Reserve Fusilier Battalion.

Over time the regiment bore various designations:

from 1813 1st Reserve Infantry Regiment

from 1815 13th Infantry Regiment,

from 1816 13th Infantry Regiment (1st Westphalian),

from 1860 1st Westphalian Infantry Regiment No. 13 and

from 1889 Infantry Regiment Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1st Westphalian) No. 13.

In 1866 IR 13 transferred companies No. 13, 14 and 15 to IR 85.

In 1881 IR 13 transferred the 7th company to IR 131.

The formation's foundation day is considered to be 01.07.1813.

The celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the foundation day took place from 02. - 04.07.1913 in Münster.

Members of the Herwarth v. Bittenfeld family were also present at the celebration as officers.

From 1856, IR 13 was assigned as follows:

VII. Army Corps (Münster)

13th Division (Münster)

25th Infantry Brigade (Münster)

Chefs von IR 13 waren:

1842 - 49: General of the Infantry Ernst v. Pfuel (commanding General of the VII Army Corps)

1851 - 1853: Grand Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg (General of the Infantry; he died on 27.02.1853)

1861 - 1884: Field Marshal Eberhard v. Herwarth v. Bittenfeld

1892-1896: Duke Wilhelm of Württemberg,

1897: v. Blume

1898: von Blankenburg.

The position of regimental chief was merely honorary.

The respective commander regulated and supervised the uniformity of training. He held disciplinary authority and the lower jurisdiction. Furthermore, the regimental commander was responsible for the allocation of replacements of men and horses, the promotion and discharge of personnel, as well as the replenishment, maintenance and storage of clothing and equipment.

The officer corps was subordinate to him; he prepared the evaluations of the officers and presided over their honor-court proceedings.

To fulfill his duties a staff was attached to the regimental commander.

The regimental commanders of IR 13 over time were:

from 1813: Langen, Karl von

from 1815: Quadt und Hüchtenbruck, Konstantin von

from 1815: Ledebur, Alexander von

from 1830: Natzmer, Wilhelm von

from 1836: Björnstjerna, Gustav Heinrich von

from 1841: Klein, Philipp 

from 1847: Schröders, Karl

from 1850: Roedern, Louis von 

from 1855: Mülbe, Otto von der

from 1857: Plessen, Hermann von

from 1858: Ingersleben, Albert von

from 1861: Witzleben, August von

from 1865: Gellhorn, Paul von

from 1867: Goetzen, Louis von

from 1868: Barby, Rudolf von

from 1869: Frankenberg und Ludwigsdorf, Moritz von

from 1873: Dallmer, Leopold von

from 1879: Schaumann, Karl von

from 1885: Specht, Wilhelm von

from 1888: Alvensleben, Friedrich von 

from 1891: Warendorff, Heinrich von 

from 1894: Hentschel von Gilgenheimb, Leopold

from 1896: Fransecky, Heinrich von

from 1897: Blankenburg, Hermann von 

from 1899: Schack, Hans von

from 1902: Brozowski, Wilhelm von

from 1905: Rosenberg-Gruszczynski, Horst von

from 1909: Homeyer, Otto von

from 1912: Ziegesar, Hermann von

from 1914: Delius, Hermann

from 1915: Gross, Carl

In mid-1817 the Westphalian garrisons were reached.

From 1877 onward the unit's peacetime garrison was only Münster.

Previously, parts of the formation were alternately stationed in Soest, Wesel and Paderborn; for example, from 1817 - 1851 the staff and the I Battalion were garrisoned in Münster, while the II Battalion was in the fortress of Wesel.

In the years 1851 - 1856 the regiment was even entirely assembled in Wesel.

The personnel replacements for the regiment came from East Prussia until 1817, and after 1817 from Westphalia, specifically from the area around Münster, Soest and Wesel.

The unit took part in various campaigns and engagements as well as other operations:

1813 - 15: 1813 Großbeeren, Dennewitz, 1814 Wittenberg. 1815 Landau

1849 (May): Detachment of 100 men to suppress the revolt in Iserlohn

1864: Missunde (02.02., fusilier battalion only), Düppel (18.04, assault on the entrenchments), Alsen (29.06, crossing)

In this campaign the regiment suffered fatalities of: 1 officer, 11 non-commissioned officers and enlisted men. 3 officers, 58 non-commissioned officers and privates were wounded.

1866: Kissingen, Lausach, Aschaffenburg.

In this campaign 5 officers and 16 non-commissioned officers and privates fell. 6 officers and 85 non-commissioned officers and privates were wounded; 2 soldiers were reported missing.

1870: Colombey, Gravelotte, Villers l’Orme, Peltre and Mercy-le-Haut, Auxerre and St. Bris, Precy and Vorges, Siege of Metz

In the military conflict with France IR 13 lost a total of 7 officers. Furthermore, 106 non-commissioned officers and privates fell; 306 were wounded.

The unit, like every infantry regiment, consisted of 3 battalions, each comprising 3 companies and 1 machine-gun company.

The machine-gun companies and detachments had, in peacetime, 6 machine guns and 3 ammunition wagons each.

At the mobilization of 1864 the regiment numbered according to Klüting: 68 officers, 183 non-commissioned officers, 2217 enlisted men, 12 hospital orderlies, 69 train drivers, thus a total of 2549.

2 infantry regiments formed a brigade.

2 brigades formed a division.

The staff of an infantry regiment included, among officers: 1 commander, 1 lieutenant colonel, 3 (junior) majors and 1 adjutant. The battalion comprised 4 companies (infantry and jägers).

The battalion commander was responsible for the discipline and training of his unit and he was accountable for the good condition of clothing and equipment. He also prepared evaluations of his officers, etc. If it was an independent battalion, e.g. among the jägers, he had additional powers similar to those of a regimental commander.

The company was commanded by a captain.

He was responsible for the training of the unit in all branches of service and, within his area of responsibility, for discipline, the supplementation and instruction of the non-commissioned officers and the condition of clothing and equipment. In his duties he was supported by the subaltern officers.

Officers were drawn from former cadets or young men who entered the regiments directly as Fahnenjunker (officer candidates). These had to have a certain level of education and, if physically fit, be between 17 and 23 years old. Acceptance was carried out by the regimental commanders. Academic education could also be demonstrated by a so‑called Fähnrichs examination before the Higher Examination Commission in Berlin. After training and attendance at the war school they had to take a regular officer examination before the aforementioned Higher Examination Commission and could then, after election by the respective officer corps, be proposed for promotion to lieutenant. In the cavalry, and especially in its particularly elite (guard) regiments, descendants of noble families served in particular. In Wilhelmine Germany the legally privileged nobility still represented a significant power factor. The bourgeoisification of the officer corps had indeed steadily progressed in the ever-growing army, but nobles still dominated the higher ranks. While in the technical troops (e.g. transport troops and pioneers) in 1913 only 6% of the staff officers came from the nobility, in the cavalry at that time 87% were noble. This is exemplified by the rank list of the Cuirassier Regiment von Driesen (Westfälisches) No. 4 from 1877 (see the article on the aforementioned regiment). In the navy officer corps it was only 13% nobles in total. Many bourgeois, however, sought — in order to be socially acceptable — a commission as a reserve officer as former one‑year volunteers.

Non-commissioned officers were drawn from suitable lance corporals and privates who had committed to continued service, or from NCO cadets. Promotions were made — at the suggestion of the squadron commander — by the respective regimental commander. For promotion to Wachtmeister, it was not primarily length of service but the suitability of the candidate that mattered. After at least 12 years of active military service, NCOs acquired the right to placement in the civil service, i.e., they could apply preferentially for positions in the imperial, state, or municipal services.

Army replacement in the German Imperial Army was carried out on the basis of general conscription. This applied from the completed 21st to the completed 45th year of age and was divided into active service, the reserves, the Landwehr and the Landsturm obligations. Active service lasted 3 years in the cavalry (and in mounted artillery), and predominantly 2 years in the other troops. From a certain level of education the service obligation could be reduced to 1 year; the so-called one-year volunteers, however, had to clothe and maintain themselves. They were the potential pool for the corps of reserve officers. The drafting was conducted by district commands in the 30 Landwehr districts within the jurisdiction of the VII Army Corps. For the guard formations a minimum height of 1.70 m applied (for the light guard cavalry: 1.67 m); lower physical requirements applied to the other branches. Cuirassiers were allowed a maximum height of 1.75 m and had to be at least 1.67 m tall. Cavalry replacements were expected to have sufficient musculature; recruits should be familiar with the care of horses or be particularly suited for mounted service and should not be excessively heavy.

Under certain conditions it was possible for the educated bourgeoisie in the German Empire to reduce the mandatory active service to one year. For example, successful completion of one year in the Untersekunda of a Gymnasium was required. The prerequisites for the so-called one-year volunteer service were demonstrated by a certificate of eligibility. If the required certificates could not be produced, there was the option of taking an examination in languages and sciences before the examination board. Certain reporting deadlines had to be observed. The one-year volunteers could — provided they were fit for service — choose their unit themselves. After examination of personal circumstances and his scholarly ability, the candidate received a certificate of eligibility for the one-year service from the competent examination board. At the beginning of the calendar year in which he reached his 20th birthday, he had to report in writing or orally to the replacement commission of his recruitment district. However, he could enter service earlier. If this deadline was missed, the entitlement to one-year service lapsed.

The one-year volunteers, however, had to bear the costs themselves for clothing, equipment (on loan), accommodation and food, as well as the use of the service horse in the cavalry, the train and the artillery. Equipment was provided against payment of an equipment fee. Weapons had to be maintained in usable condition at their own expense and returned upon discharge. The one-year volunteer could obtain clothing items by paying fixed — inexpensive — prices.

Every regiment (or independent battalion) of the Old Army had a music corps. Among the mounted troops (not the train) it was called a trumpeter corps. The music corps were led by staff oboists or staff trumpeters. They were comparable in the military hierarchy to sergeants or Wachtmeisters. Members of the music corps were called oboists, and among the mounted troops trumpeters. These were made up of volunteers with musical ambitions who entered the military for a set number of years. In addition to their service in the music corps they received only reduced training (marksmanship, riding). In the infantry, alongside the actual military musicians there were also players equipped with drums, fifes and bugles. They were to give signals and to accompany training and marches with music. They were drawn from the regiment or the battalion, were not considered military musicians, although they did — for example at parades — cooperate with the music corps.

Players etc. were oboists, horn players, trumpeters, drummers, pipers and horn players. Horn players were the musicians of the jägers, sharpshooters and pioneers.

Aside from that there were true musicians who formed the respective music corps.

If a formation was allowed to wear hair plumes with the parade uniform, these were red for the players etc.

Players wore as a common insignia the so-called "swallow nests." In the guard formations the swallow nests had fringes.

With respect to the regimental band of IR 13 Haas-Tenckhoff remarks as follows: "The excellent Thirteen band, one of the best of its kind, if not the best in all of Germany, has since 1871 always been engaged for opera performances at the theatre and for the concerts of the music society; it has not a little contributed to Münster's reputation as an outstanding music city. Indeed, the musical activity of the Thirteen band extended far beyond the garrison. It was frequently drawn into special, serious musical performances in the large towns of the industrial district, particularly in Hagen and Iserlohn; and in the Dutch towns of Enschede, Almelo and Hengelo the concert tours, when military service allowed, extended as far as the East Frisian islands and as far as Scheveningen."

A field service regulation of 22 March 1908 governed details of war organization, troop allocation, reconnaissance and security, march, accommodation and bivouac, baggage, ammunition columns and train, provisioning, medical service, ammunition resupply, railway (transport), means of communication, field gendarmerie and weapons effects, etc., for the case of mobilization generally for all branches of service.

The drill regulations for the infantry of 29 May 1906 designated it as the principal arm and emphasized that a "careful, strict individual training is the foundation of all training." The role of the infantry was described as follows: "In concert with the artillery it drives down the enemy with its fire. Alone it breaks his last resistance. It bears the main burden of the fight and suffers the greatest sacrifices. For this it is also rewarded with the greatest glory" (p. 81).

Already with the drill regulations of 1888 infantry tactics had been modernized; from that point the skirmish line became the main form of combat. Modern infantry attacks took place in open order; reference was made to the "emptiness of the battlefield." However, the flat drill grounds were not particularly suitable for conveying realistic combat conditions. The actual drill instruction was to be completed at company level; the battalion formation held the combat school. In addition to the drill regulations, shooting and gymnastics regulations in particular had to be observed[1].

[1] e.g. the gymnastics regulation for the infantry of 3 May 1910.

Thus the soldier's training led from individual instruction, training in sections, squads and platoons, and training in the company and battalion, finally to exercises at the regimental and brigade level. The emphasis of infantry training inevitably lay in marksmanship training. This was supplemented by gymnastics exercises, bayonet fighting instruction and oral lessons.

Contemporaries were already opposed to a technologized drill: "Despite all education of the individual into a self-confident man and an experienced, war-ready soldier, the greatest value must still be placed on discipline. One must not seek mere dressage, a mere mechanization of actions that causes the man to execute given commands even in combat. One must internalize discipline …. The soldier's pleasure and cheerfulness must also be preserved in drilling, then twice as much can be achieved in half the time. Real discipline is not consolidated by hours of individual drill. That time would be better used to make the man a field soldier who feels comfortable in the terrain and likes to go into the field ---"[1].

[1]From an article in the Militärwochenblatt 1906, cited in: Bernd Ulrich, Jakob Vogel and Benjamin Ziemann (eds.), Untertan in Uniform, op. cit., p. 69.

The art historian and later director and later director of the Westphalian State Museum for Art and Cultural History in Münster reports on his time with the Infantry Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1st Westf.) No. 13 (Münster): "The real training of the one-year volunteers did not take place in the company, but by the regiment under the supervision of the commander of the III Battalion, Major Troschke, whom I met in those days at the wedding of my friend Toni Schmid. He also occasionally appeared on our drill ground behind the Protestant church. My individual march did not satisfy him, as I myself only later developed into a good marcher. 'Get your ass in here!' was the first word he shouted to me, softened by our social wedding acquaintance." Interesting is his assessment of the "one-year volunteers": "Terrifying was the differing intellectual level of the one-year volunteers, who were nonetheless called upon to be convincing superiors later as reserve officers in peacetime and especially in war. There were many among them who had really only achieved the certificate to the Obersekunda and were thus not sufficiently prepared for their task. I got to know only a few capable people among them...."[1].

[1] Max Geisberg, p. 235.

Prussian uniforming in the Napoleonic and Biedermeier periods was modeled on Russian examples. Already in the Napoleonic era the shako had replaced the hat in the Prussian army. The shako was worn by all branches of service; only the cuirassiers, following the Russian model, had a helmet with a high leather crest together with a black horsehair plume and brass fittings. Furthermore, a single- or double-breasted frock coat, mostly blue (green for the rifles and chasseurs), with long or short skirts was worn. Collars and sleeve cuffs were generally red. The shoulder straps varied according to the army corps and showed the regiment number or an awarded name inscription. The queue (hair braid) was abandoned. The coat was to sit smoothly; the chest was padded. Trousers were pulled up by suspenders, and loops under the shoe soles gave the legwear a tighter fit. The headgear was made tall and slender and adorned with a high narrow ornament. In the field it was protected by a waterproof cover. Overall the soldier was intended to appear slimmer and taller. The infantryman's knapsack was fastened tightly to the back, although its carrying straps could press too much against the chest. During the Biedermeier peacetime the clothing did become more elegant, but in return more uncomfortable for the soldier's actual profession.

The 13th Infantry Regiment was formed from:

1. Depot battalion (later 3rd Musketeer Battalion of the 1st East Prussian Infantry Regiment). Became the 1st Battalion.

2. 1st East Prussian Reserve Musketeer Battalion. Became the 2nd Battalion.

3. 1st Lithuanian Reserve Fusilier Battalion. Became the Fusilier Battalion.

4. 2nd East Prussian Reserve Musketeer Battalion. Was disbanded in May 1815.

   Knötel describes the previous uniforms of the parent troop units as follows:

   On 1. Simple gray cloth jackets without colored insignia, gray cloth trousers, black cloth gaiters reaching over the calves. Gray cloth cap with a red band and above it the red number 1, furthermore with a leather visor and chinstrap. Gray greatcoats with a red collar, white shoulder straps and yellow buttons. Cartridge pouches with white bandolier. Partly calfskin knapsacks with white straps, partly twill knapsacks. Old Prussian rifles.

   The officers accordingly wore the uniform of the 1st East Prussian Infantry Regiment.

   On 2, 3 and 4. These battalions wore the uniform of the 1st East Prussian Infantry Regiment. Leather equipment white, for the 1st Lithuanian Reserve Fusilier Battalion black. This battalion had Old Prussian rifles, while the musketeers were equipped with French rifles captured from the Russians.

After the assembly of the regiment.

1. At the beginning of July the battalion received, according to Knötel, in exchange for surrendering the previous uniform and equipment, items of English origin. The blue coats had a low red collar open at the front, dark-blue shoulder straps edged with narrow white braid, a row of yellow buttons marked with the number 14, with white braid strips on both sides. The skirts were cut square, short with a wide turn-back. Blue cloth and white linen trousers, with black gaiters underneath. Blue cloth field caps with a flap on the right and left that could be folded down and edged with black ribbon. White cloth jackets worn under the coat. Grey cloth greatcoats without insignia with an overfall collar reaching to the elbows. Leather neck collars. As headdress tall English felt shakos with leather lining, visor and chinstrap. At the front a yellow oval metal plate with a lion, above it a white-and-red wool plume. New cartridge pouches on white sling belts, yellow waxed-canvas haversacks with white straps. English rifles.

Non-commissioned officers wore short swords on shoulder straps, red sashes, white piping around the collars and three white braid strips on the left arm, and on the shako instead of the wool plume red-and-white feather plumes.

The musicians' coats were richly decorated on the sleeves with white braid.

Items 2, 3 and 4. As before the armistice.

Uniform 1815: According to Prussian regulation with yellow collar, cuffs and shoulder straps.

Source: Mitteilungen zur Geschichte der militärischen Tracht. As a supplement to Uniformkunde by Richard Knötel. No. 2 and 3 (1904).

The Infantry Regiment Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1st Westphalian) No. 13 wore the typical uniform of the Prussian infantry.

This consisted of a cap of dark-blue cloth with a ponceau-red facing strip and the same piping around the rim of the crown, and a tunic of dark-blue cloth with a ponceau-red collar. Its Brandenburg-style sleeve cuffs and the pipings down the front and at the pocket edges as well as the swallowtail panels were ponceau red. The flaps of the sleeve cuff had a white piping.

The cloth trousers were dark-blue mixed with a ponceau-red (side) piping. In addition, white linen trousers and drill trousers were part of the equipment.

The greatcoat was made of grey cloth. Shoulder straps like those on the tunic were worn on it. These were dark blue for the regiment discussed here and showed the formation number in red.

As headdress served the black-lacquered leather helmet (= pickelhaube) with yellow fittings, ornamentation and a blackened chinstrap.

The buckle of the waistbelt was made of brass and had a nickel-silver plate with the crown and the inscription: GOTT MIT UNS.

Footwear consisted of blackened (and hobnailed) infantry boots.

The field-march equipment also included a brown calfskin knapsack with trim of natural-coloured leather.

In 1853 the regiment was equipped with needle rifles. The fusilier battalion had used this model for longer.

The needle rifle was a weapon invented from 1827 by Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse (Sömmerda). This breechloader used new needle cartridges, which contained, in addition to the projectile and propellant, the ignition element.

Previously the flintlock musket had been used, and later the so-called percussion rifle.

The needle rifle was developed further over time. Thus the regiment received in 1867/68 the improved M/62 model, which, however, was inferior to the French Chassepot rifle.

According to Klüting the mentioned M/62 model could fire 8 rounds per minute and had double the range of the previous weapon.

The shortcomings of the needle rifle became apparent already in the Franco-Prussian War. The weapon used by the French army, the Chassepot, was clearly more powerful. 

Therefore, by general order (AKO) of 22.03.1872 a new rifle (Rifle Model 71) was introduced. 

This construction by the Mauser brothers was the first to use the metallic cartridge and was used in part into the First World War. The caliber was now 11 mm (lead weight of the projectile: 25 g, 5 g black powder), the barrel length was 1.35 m. And it was lighter (4.45 kg instead of 5.07 kg).

By the mid-1870s, according to Pietsch, all regiments of the Prussian army had been equipped with the new weapon. According to the regimental history of IR 13 (v. Blume, 1902, 354) the three battalions of this unit initially received in August 1872 the reworked (adapted) needle rifle M/62 as new armament. This was an improved variant of the previous weapon. In November 1874, however, all three battalions were already equipped with the new infantry rifle M/71. In addition a new sidearm was issued - a bayonet (sword bayonet). Now only two motions were required to load.

From 1885 certain non-commissioned officers were armed with revolvers.

In 1888 the Gewehr 88 (Model 1888 rifle) was introduced, which replaced the Mauser rifle M/71/84. The latter already had a range of 1600 m.

The Gewehr 98 (K 98) further improved the regiment's armament before the outbreak of the First World War.

Fascine knives were also introduced from 1854.

Already in the 19th century there had been attempts, especially by the colonial powers, to make uniforms more practical.

Due to the increased range of firearms in the second half of the 19th century the question of cover and camouflage, however, became ever more important.

Earlier, green had already been chosen as the basic color of the uniform for chasseurs and riflemen, e.g. in the British army.

From 1835 the British light infantry in Canada was clothed in grey. Later, in the British army overseas, white uniforms and tropical uniforms became common.

In Indian service the khaki uniform eventually prevailed. Other nations followed the British example, but traditional references proved very persistent in all armies.

Other states also adopted this unstoppable development as a model for their armies.

In the German Army the field-gray uniform was introduced in 1907, initially only for the infantry.

In this uniform the Infantry Regiment Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1st Westphalian) No. 13 also presented itself before 1914, for example during peacetime exercises.

The field-gray uniform for the infantry now consisted of

the cap of field-gray cloth with a ponceau-red facing strip and the same piping around the rim of the crown, and

the field-gray tunic with ponceau-red pipings down the front and at the rear of the pocket edges,

• its sleeve cuffs were also field-gray and for IR 13 of Brandenburg form,

• the field-gray shoulder straps on the tunic were edged with a piping in the color of the shoulder straps worn on the peacetime tunic, therefore for IR 13 light blue,

• furthermore these showed the formation number (13) in red,

• the buttons on the tunic were made of tombac and matte with a crown,

• also the swallowtail panels of the musicians and bandsmen were field-gray and, as on the peacetime uniform, trimmed with braid or piping.

The former neckstock had been replaced by a neckcloth of gray cotton fabric,

the field-gray cloth trousers had ponceau-red piping in the side seams.

The greatcoats remained as in peacetime but with the shoulder straps of the field-gray tunic.

On 02.08.1914 IR 13 was mobilized according to the mobilization plan. In addition to the regiment marching to the front, it established a replacement battalion of 4 companies as well as two recruit depots. About the farewell of IR 13 we read in the war chronicle of the city of Münster by Eduard Schulte, in the diction of the time, under 07.08.1914: "This morning the farewell of the Thirteen took the form of a powerful demonstration. The regiment had marched out in the morning in field-march formation to the drill ground by Haus Spital, where the new commander, Lieutenant Colonel Hermann Delius, took over command after the previous commander, Oberst Freiherr Hermann von Ziegesar, had been appointed commander of the 28th Infantry Brigade. On the return march the regiment passed the Royal Palace in parade march before the Commanding General His Excellency von Einem. Then began the last common march, which because of the uncertain time of departure was called a farewell, through the city quickly decorated with flags by order of the Lord Mayor. On the Prinzipalmarkt a large crowd gave the Thirteen stormy tributes. The regimental staff swung off toward the town hall, under whose arcades numerous members of the magistrate and the city council assembly had gathered, and there took the splendid preliminary march. Lieutenant Colonel Delius and the Lord Mayor greeted each other with a handshake and heartfelt words. While the pavement trembled from the iron march and the citizens cheered and waved enthusiastically to the troops, the regimental band played on Michaelisplatz with roaring music patriotic songs that were sung along enthusiastically by soldiers and citizens. - Behind the long, weapons-clanking column, after the machine-gun company, followed a troop of conscripted reservists, one of whom carried a large sign reading "On to the bear hunt"" (p. 22).

The aforementioned war chronicle continues: "In the last night the I Battalion of the Infantry Regiment Herwarth von Bittenfeld First Westphalian No. 13 marched out. The neighboring houses of the Hörster and the Lotharinger barracks shone in Bengal illumination. Under waving flags, accompanied by thousands of people, the battalion moved to the station, from where shortly after 12 o'clock the train departed west toward Belgium, while the music played once more: Muß i denn, muß i denn zum Städele hinaus.... The II Bat. left in the morning at 1/25, the regimental staff with the machine-gun company at 20 past 6 and the III Bat. around 1/29 o'clock" (p. 23).

The Infantry Regiment Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1st Westphalian) No. 13 formed with Infantry Regiment No. 158

the 25th Infantry Brigade and this belonged

to the 13th Division and this in turn

to the VII Army Corps in the

2nd Army under Colonel-General - later Field Marshal - v. Bülow (* 24.03.1846 in Berlin; † 31.08.1921 there).

The deployment of the Infantry Regiment Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1st Westphalian) No. 13 in the First World War was as follows:

1914

12. – 16.08.        Capture of Liège

23. – 24.08.        Battle of Namur (at La Buissière)

29. – 30.08.        Battle of St. Quentin

04. – 09.09.        Battle of the Marne (at Montmirail)

12.09. – 03.10.  Fighting at Reims (at Brimont)

08. – 12.10.        Battle of Arras (assault on Château Roulette)

13.10. – 20.11.  Positional fighting in the Artois near Angres and at the Loretto Height

19.10. – 30.10. Battle of Lille (assault on Lorgis and Richebourg l`Avoué

30.11. – 20.1.    Positional fighting in French Flanders near Festubert

21.11. – 06.12. Positional fighting in French Flanders near Fromelles

06.12.14 – 25.03.1916 Positional fighting in French Flanders at Pietre

18. and 19.12.1914 December battle in French Flanders (fight at the Wasserburg)

1915

10. – 14.03.        Battle of Neuve Chapelle

09. - 24.05.         Battle of La Bassée

25.09.                  Autumn battle at La Bassée (near Neuve Chapelle)

07.06. - 02.07. Positional fighting before Verdun on the Caurettes Height

15.06. Fighting at the Toten Mann

13.07. - 07-09. Positional fighting before Verdun on the Toten Mann

10. - 22.09. Battle of the Somme (at Bouchavesnes)

01.10. - 31.01.1917 Positional fighting before Verdun on Height 304 (Hindenburg sector)

28.12. Assault troop operation "Leifeld"

25. - 29.01. Assault on the battle line of Hill 304

02.02. - 12.04. Positional fighting in front of Verdun on Hill 304 (sector 'Tiefe')

18.02. and 19.02. Assault troop operation 'Leifeld'

13.04. - 10.05. Positional fighting in front of Verdun in the Avocourt Wood, sector 'Quelle'

01.06. - 02.08. Positional fighting on the Chemin des Dames near Cerny.

10. and 11.06. Fighting west of Cerny (Operation 'Hartholz und Biermann'

28.06. - 07.07. Assault Assault on the French trenches on the Bovelle ridge (Operation 'Westfalen')

31.07. - 02.08. Assault on the height line of the Chemin des Dames east of Cerny (Operation 'Blücher')

09.08. - 21.09. Positional fighting in the Siegfried Position near St. Gbain

11. - 25.10. Positional fighting on the Chemin des Dames near Chavignon

23.10. Battle at Chavignon

18.12.17 - 08.02.18 Positional fighting in front of Verdun in the Avocourt Wood (sector 'Forest')

25.01. Assault troop operation 'Urlaub'

21.03. - 06.04. Major battle in France

21. and 22.03. 3rd breakthrough at Ronssoy

27.03. - 06.04. Fighting on the Ancre at Morlancourt-Treux

07. - 10.04. Fighting on the Ancre at Dernancourt

19.04. - 16.05. Fighting on the Avre at Moreuil

01.07. - 07.08. Fighting between the Somme and the Roman road at Hamel and Villers-Bretonneux

08. - 09.08. Tank battle between the Ancre and the Avre

10. - 12.08. Battle at the Roman road

13. - 27.08. Battle at Albert-Péronne (fighting north of the Somme)

29.09. - 11.11. Defensive battle in the Champagne and around the Meuse.

The deployment of IR 13 in the First World War is to be additionally documented using the original, meticulously kept records of a war volunteer from IR 13 as a supplement:

28.08.1914 Enlisted as a war volunteer in the Es. Batl. IR 13 Münster i. W.

17.10.1914 Promotion to Gefreiter

09.10.1914 - 21.10.1914 Transport to France via Wanne, Cologne, Aachen, LiègeAns, Tirlemont, Loewen, Brussels, Mons, Valenciennes, Cambrai to Douay. Arrived 21.10. in the evening in the cavalry barracks in Douay.

22.10.1914 March to Angres (Loretto Heights) to IR 13; assigned to 8/13.

24.10.1914 Entered the foremost position. Baptism of fire.

24.10.1914 - 10.11.1914 Positional fighting at Angres with rest days in Angres

11.11.1914 - 19.11.1914 Positional fighting at and in Carency (Loretto Heights). Relieved by IR 15.

20.11.1914 March to Fournes (near Lille)

24.11.1914 - 05.12.1914 Positional fighting at Fromelles with rest days there.

07.12.1914 - 04.01.1915 Positional fighting at Neuve-Chapelle with rest days in Fournes.

Included: 18 and 19.12.1914. Battle in French Flanders.

Christmas in the position.

31.12.1914 New Year’s Eve and Christmas celebration in Fournes.

05.01.1915 - 10.02.1915 Sick in the infirmary and Field Hospital VII in Haubourdin (Lille).

11.02.1915 Returned to 8/13.

12.02.1915 - 06.04.1915 Positional fighting at Neuve-Chapelle with days in Fournes.

Included: 10. - 14.03.1915 Battle of Neuve-Chapelle.

22.03.1915 Transferred to 11/13.

07.04.1915 Around 2 a.m. while on patrol wounded by an infantry projectile.

Shot through the thigh and abdomen.

07.04.1915 - 17.04.1915 Field Hospital IV, Sainghin en Weppes.

02.09.1915 - 19.10.1915 Res. Laz. Hagen i. W. General Hospital.

20.10.1915 - 09.12.1915 Vereinslaz. Vollmarstein, Johanna-Helenenheim.

09.12.1915 - 17.04.1916 Res. Laz. Hagen i. W. Eye clinic.

18.04.1916 Deployment from Münster to the Field Recruits Depot of the 13th Infantry Division.

19.04.1916 - 09.06.1916 At the Field Recruits Depot in Bourghelles (near Tournai).

10.06.1916 - 27.06.1916 At the Field Recruits Depot in Breux (near Montmedy).

28.06.1916 Returned to the 8th Company, I.R. 13 (left bank of the Meuse), in the evening carrying food to the Rabenwald.

30.06. - 12.07.1916 Rest billets in Liny (near Dun).

12.07.1916 - 07.09.1916 Positional fighting before Verdun. Toter-Mann, T-Wäldchen and Heckengrund; rest days in Brieulles.

07.08.1916 Promotion to non-commissioned officer and officer candidate.

11.09.1916 - 20.09.1916 Battle of the Somme. Front line before Allaines (near Peronne).

25.09.1916 - 05.10.1916 Rest billets in Milly (near Dun).

continued under 1917.

05.10.1916 - 15.05.1917 Fighting before Verdun. Hill 304, Heckengrund, Malancourt wood.

19.10.1916 Inspection by the Crown Prince in Stenay.

01.11.1916 Transferred to the new 6/13.

01.11.1916 - 24.11.1916 Assigned to the M. W. detachment of the regiment.

06.12.1916 Assault on the "Backenzahn" (Hill 304).

10.12.1916 Awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class.

03.01.1917 - 04.02.1917 Assigned to the officer candidate course of the 13th Infantry Division in Cunel.

11.03.1917 - 25.03.1917 Home leave.

15.04.1917 Promotion to Vizefeldwebel.

17.05.1917 - 27.04.1917 Rest billets in Gizy (before Laon). Preparedness for the twin battles Aisne–Champagne.

28.05.1917 - 02.08.1917 Fighting on the Chemin des Dames near Cerny (near Laon).

07.06.1917 Assault on enemy sap heads.

28.06.1917 - 03.07.1917 Storming of the trenches at Bouelle.

06.07.1917 - 09.07.1917 Repulsion of enemy attacks at Bovelle-Ferme.

31.07.1917 Assault attack before Cerny.

02.08.1917 Around 12 noon, as leader of an assault squad, after storming enemy trenches wounded by an artillery projectile — injuries to the head, left side of the chest, left shoulder and left upper arm. Loss of the left eye.

02.08.1917 - 14.08.1917 Field Hospital 70 of the 13th Infantry Division Notre de Liesse.

15.08.1917 - 02.11.1917 Reserve Hospital IV, Bonn, surgical department Brüderhaus.

31.08.1917 Promotion to Lieutenant of the Reserve in IR 13.

04.11.1917 - 10.11.1917 Reserve Hospital III, Wiesbaden. Sub-hospital Hotel "Grüner Wald".

11.11.1917 - 18.12.1917 Reserve Hospital IV, Bonn, surgical department Brüderhaus.

19.12.1917 As company commander to the E. I.R. Münster, 5th Company.

01.02.1918 - 05.02.1918 Assigned to the mortar course at Sennelager.

05.02.1918 Transferred to the II. Landsturm IR 611. 8th company in Walbeck (Dutch border).

01.03.1918 Transferred to 6/611 at Herongen-Niederdorf.

01.07.1918 - 06.07.1918 Assigned to the course for troop gas officers in Münster.

08.07.1918 - 09.07.1918 Deputy company commander, 7/611, Straelen.

10.07.1918 - 16.07.1918 Deputy company commander, 8/611, Walbeck.

17.07.1918 Assigned for familiarization as adjutant to III/611 in Cleve.

01.09.1918 Appointed adjutant.

30.11.1918 Released from army service to the District Command Hagen i. W.

IR 13 counted, up to and including November 1916, 11047 dead, missing and wounded soldiers (see list below). In total, 175 officers and 4038 non-commissioned officers and enlisted men of this formation fell in the First World War.

The armistice was signed on 11.11.1918. The First World War was over.

For the impending march back, the regiment was withdrawn from the front and assembled in Lamouilly (a municipality in the present-day Arrondissement of Verdun in the Département Meuse in the French region Grand Est).

From 16.11. the withdrawal began. .

On 23.11. German soil was entered and quarters were taken across the Rhine at Bingen, Johannisberg and Geisenheim.

From 07.12. the regiment was transported away from Rüdesheim station toward its home garrison.

On 08.12. (at noon) the march into the city of Münster took place. On the Prinzipalmarkt the formation was welcomed by the Lord Mayor.

Afterwards they marched into the Ägidiikaserne. There the last regimental commander before the war addressed the assembled regiment.

After that demobilization began and the reduction of the strength initially to peacetime strength. The machine-gun companies No. 1 and 3 and the mortar company were immediately disbanded.

The unit was completely dissolved on 01.10.1919.

The war memorial for the fallen of Infantry Regiment Herwarth von Bittenfeld (1st Westphalian) No. 13 is located on the Promenade at the bend toward the Aasee. The design goes back to the artist Heinrich Bäumer Sr. The initiators were veterans of the respective formation. The memorial committee was led by Colonel (ret.) Krome and First Lieutenant of the Reserve (ret.) Ekey. The foundation stone was already laid in 1923. By letter dated October 24, 1923, the memorial was handed over to the city of Münster, with only a few inscriptions still missing. The then Lord Mayor (Dr. Sperlich) replied by letter dated November 28, 1923.

On May 3, 1925 it was inaugurated as part of a so-called regimental review. On that Sunday — after memorial services in three churches — the flag delegations of the veterans' and military associations assembled for the monument dedication at 11 a.m. A concert then took place on the then Neuplatz. After the participants' and guests' lunch in various venues around the city, the review, a march-past and the march through the city to the Schützenhof for the reunion celebration followed on the aforementioned square from 2:30 p.m.

The appearance of the war memorial is a pyramid set on four spheres on a square base plate, very similar to an obelisk. It is crowned by an Iron Cross. As decorative elements there are two high reliefs: a lion ready to spring and a semi-reclining man whose arm rests on a sword. There is also a steel helmet with a laurel wreath. Above the lion is the inscription: "Loyalty for Loyalty"; the corresponding units are also named. Inscriptions were later added for the fallen of World War II.