Westphalian Train Battalion No. 7

The Westphalian Train Battalion No. 7 was also part of the permanent garrison of Münster.

Train Battalions Nos. 1–8 were established in the Prussian Army on 21 April 1853. Until that point there were no peacetime cadres. In the depots there were only a few train officers.

The peacetime cadres created in 1853 were usually commanded by an artillery officer; the other officers were Landwehr officers. The remaining personnel were seconded cavalrymen and infantrymen (non-commissioned officers and privates).

In addition to the Guard Train Battalion, the German Army in 1914 had a total of 24 further Train Battalions, including 2 Saxon (Nos. 12 and 19), 1 Württemberg (No. 13), 1 Baden (No. 14), 1 Hessian (No. 18) and 3 Bavarian (Nos. 1–3). Each battalion had 4 companies.

From 1862 it was stipulated that one-third of the cavalry reserve was to be transferred to the Train each year.

From 1914 the men serving for two years were called Trainreiter; the soldiers serving only one year were called Trainfahrer.

The Westphalian Train Battalion No. 7 [1] was formed in 1853 as the train cadre of the VII Army Corps. The day of foundation was 21 April 1853. The unit was established in Münster from artillery personnel.

In the period 1856–65 it was called Train Battalion, and from 14 December 1865 the introductory designation was used.

The garrison from the time of establishment was the city of Münster.

The personnel replacements were provided by the Province of Westphalia, respectively the district around Münster.

The Westphalian Train Battalion No. 7 wore the uniform of the Prussian Train battalions without special distinctions.

Accordingly, the cap was made of dark blue cloth with light blue edging strips and a matching piping around the top edge.

The following photos show how the shape of the cap changed over time.

The tunic was also dark blue and had a rounded collar. This was originally low and later became increasingly higher.

The collar and the so-called Swedish sleeve cuffs were of light blue cloth.

The tunic had a light blue piping running down the front and along the pocket flaps (in the skirts).

The light blue shoulder boards showed the battalion number, i.e. the 7 in red.

The buttons were made of tombac.

The commanders of the unit since its formation were: Ostwald (1854), Schenk (1856), Crdner (1858), Alster (1864), Frhr. v. Bothmer (1868), v. Manstein (1874), v. Schulz (1880), Schulz (1882), Meier (1892), Sichart v. Sichartshoff (1894), v. Seemen (1898), Eltester (1904).

The last commander was Lothar Jeck.

The officers had to procure their uniforms and equipment themselves. These were therefore of higher quality than the store items of the enlisted men.

All metal elements on the officers' uniforms were gold or gilt.

The non-commissioned officers had gold, smooth braid on the collar and on the sleeve cuffs.

Their service cap had a visor.

For service and parade dress the black-lacquered leather helmet (Pickelhaube) was worn. This corresponded to the model for the infantry.

It had a yellow mount.

The Prussian heraldic eagle served as ornamentation.

The scale chains were convex and not flat.

The Train's enlisted men originally wore the shako, corresponding to the model of the Jägers and sharpshooters.

From 1903 the helmet described above was introduced. However, old shakos were obviously still worn.

According to Mila, Trainfahrer, mounted horse handlers, musicians, non-commissioned officers and mounted craftsmen were equipped with long dark gray riding breeches with ponceau-red piping and a black leather insert and gray linen stable trousers.

Non-commissioned officers, musicians and craftsmen on foot had long dark gray infantry cloth trousers with ponceau-red piping and white linen trousers.

Unmounted horse handlers had long dark gray infantry cloth trousers with ponceau-red piping.

Officers had long dark gray-blue cloth trousers with ponceau-red piping. In summer long white linen trousers were worn. For the court gala uniform long white cashmere trousers were prescribed.

For 1914 Friedag refers for the Train to the leg and footwear of the field artillery.

For parade, black horsehair plumes were worn on the shako or the helmet. Musicians had, as usual, red plumes.

The leather equipment was white for mounted troops, black for foot troops.

The cartridge box (for ammunition) had no ornamentation.

In popular parlance the train soldiers were jokingly referred to as "Hiltrup hussars."

The term Train has French roots and means "retinue." It referred to the transport and supply resources with the corresponding personnel.

The individual Train battalions were subordinated to the army corps individually.

From 1 April 1914 they were called departments and consisted of a staff, 5 provision and 5 transport columns, as well as 3 medical companies, 1 horse depot and 1 field bakery column.

The loading of the mentioned provision and transport columns of a battalion or department sufficed for the provisions and fodder of an army corps (!) for a period of five days.

The field uniform introduced before the outbreak of the First World War had the following features for the Train:

The cap made of field-gray cloth had a light blue edging strip and a corresponding piping around the top edge.

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

The stand-and-fall collar also had a ponceau-red piping.

The field-gray tunic, like the peacetime uniform, had Swedish sleeve cuffs. These showed light blue piping at the upper and lower edges.

The shoulder boards were also field-gray with light blue piping. These showed the battalion number in red (7).

The matte buttons with crown were made of tombac.

The war memorial for the Westphalian Train Battalion No. 7 was erected on the north side of Ludgeriplatz as a visual marker (sculptor: Rüther, architect: Buchs). The initiators were members of the unit. The war memorial was inaugurated on 04.05.–05.07.2925 and is made of shell limestone. It is a three-part memorial complex in honor of the fallen soldiers of the formation named. It consists, on the one hand, of a large stele approximately 5 m high. The monument, formed as a pylon, widens toward the top. It features non-figural ornamentation in the form of expressive ornamentation. In trapezoidal recesses there are inscriptions. Ornamentation includes an iron cross and an eagle. Two bronze plaques on lectern-like pedestals commemorate the train soldiers fallen in China and Africa (DSWA). These are probably older than the memorial itself. The latter have in the past led to sustained criticism of the memorial, particularly against the background of the genocide, which has since been assessed as such, of the pastoral peoples in the former German colony German South West by the so-called Schutztruppen stationed there.