Das Infanterie-Regiment Generalfeldmarschall von Mackensen Nr. 129 (3rd Westpreußisches) 11te Kompanie in 1915.
Goodbye to the 36th Division
Magazine showing German Positions along the Bzura River.
During the winter of 1914 – 15 the 36th Division, with the 17th Army Corps, took part in the actions along the Bzura River until June. IR129 had been transferred to the new 105th Division by the end of May.
Reassigned to the 105th Division
Present day view of Thorn, now Torun, Poland.
The 105th Division was formed at Thorn in May, 1915. At the outset it comprised the 122nd Regiment of Fusileers obtained from the 26th Division (13th Corps District), the 21st Infantry from the 35th Division, and the 129th Infantry from the 36th Division (17th Corps District). The 122nd Fusileers had previously fought on the Western Front being engaged with their old division at the Battle of the Frontiers and the “Race to the Sea.”
The 105th Division was composed of the 209th Infanterie-Brigade:
- Infanterie-Regiment von Borcke (4. Pommersches) Nr. 21
- Füsilier-Regiment Kaiser Franz Josef von Österreich, König von Ungarn (4. Württembergisches) Nr.122
- 3. Westpreußisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 129
The 105th Division was composed of the 209th Infanterie-Brigade:
- Infanterie-Regiment von Borcke (4. Pommersches) Nr. 21
- Füsilier-Regiment Kaiser Franz Josef von Österreich, König von Ungarn (4. Württembergisches) Nr.122
- 3. Westpreußisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 129
Serbia
In June, 1915, the 105th Division appeared on the Serbian front at the same time as the 101st and the 103rd Divisions.
Gorlice-Tarnow
German Troops watching smoke rise over Gorlice.
At the end of June it was transferred to Galicia via Budapest and Stry. It participated in the offensive against the Gnila Lipa from June 24 to July 1, on the Zlota Lipa July 20. From Galicia it went to Poland; fought at Krasnostaw at the end of July and between Wieprz and the Jaselda until August 20. At the end of August it was on the Chtchertchev-Brest-Kobryn railway front. This was done to assist in exploiting the success of the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive.
General von Hotzendorf, the Chief of Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Army, had originally proposed the idea of breaching the Russian line in the area of Gorlice. At first this idea was rejected by the German High Command. They later changed their minds and decided on a major offensive in the Gorlice-Tarnow area, south-east of Krakow, at the distant southern end of the Eastern Front. In April 1915, the recently formed German 11th Army was transferred from the Western Front and placed under the command of Von Mackensen. They coordinated with the Austro-Hungarian IV Army. The two armies were facing the Russian III Army, which held that sector.
General Mackensen had been given command of both German and Austro-Hungarian forces, and on 2 May, after a heavy artillery bombardment, he hurled an attack which caught the Russians by surprise. He focused ten infantry and one cavalry division on the 35 km of the breakthrough sector of the front line against five Russian divisions. The Central Powers crushed the Russian defenses, and the Russian lines buckled. The Russian III Army lost about 140,000 prisoners, and almost ceased to exist as a fighting unit. The 3rd Caucasian Corps had 40,000 men in April, yet found itself reduced to 8,000. It was flung into the battle on the San River against the Austrian I Army, and succeeded in taking some 6,000 prisoners and nine guns. One division was down to 900 men on May 19.
The Russians were forced to fall back, the Central Powers recaptured most of Galicia, and the Russian menace to Austria-Hungary was averted. Particularly rewarding was the recapture of Przemysl on June 3rd. The same day, fresh offensives were launched: the Austrian IV and VII armies on the flank of the XI Army aiming for the Dniester River. By June 17, the defenders had pulled back on Lwow, the capital of Galicia, and on the 22nd Austria-Hungary's fourth largest city was recaptured. With this defeat, which meant that most of Galicia had returned to Austrian hands, the lines became stable in the south. The penetration advanced about 160 km at its deepest, reducing the Polish salient to about a third of its pre-war dimensions.
Trying to save Russian forces from suffering heavy casualties and gain time needed for the massive buildup of war industries at home, the Russian High Command decided to gradually withdraw from Galicia and the Polish salient to straighten out the frontline and started a strategic withdraw that has become known as The Great Retreat of 1915. Warsaw was evacuated and fell on August 4th to the new German 12th Army, at the end of the month Poland was entirely under Austro-German control, and 750,000 Russian prisoners had been captured.
General von Hotzendorf, the Chief of Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Army, had originally proposed the idea of breaching the Russian line in the area of Gorlice. At first this idea was rejected by the German High Command. They later changed their minds and decided on a major offensive in the Gorlice-Tarnow area, south-east of Krakow, at the distant southern end of the Eastern Front. In April 1915, the recently formed German 11th Army was transferred from the Western Front and placed under the command of Von Mackensen. They coordinated with the Austro-Hungarian IV Army. The two armies were facing the Russian III Army, which held that sector.
General Mackensen had been given command of both German and Austro-Hungarian forces, and on 2 May, after a heavy artillery bombardment, he hurled an attack which caught the Russians by surprise. He focused ten infantry and one cavalry division on the 35 km of the breakthrough sector of the front line against five Russian divisions. The Central Powers crushed the Russian defenses, and the Russian lines buckled. The Russian III Army lost about 140,000 prisoners, and almost ceased to exist as a fighting unit. The 3rd Caucasian Corps had 40,000 men in April, yet found itself reduced to 8,000. It was flung into the battle on the San River against the Austrian I Army, and succeeded in taking some 6,000 prisoners and nine guns. One division was down to 900 men on May 19.
The Russians were forced to fall back, the Central Powers recaptured most of Galicia, and the Russian menace to Austria-Hungary was averted. Particularly rewarding was the recapture of Przemysl on June 3rd. The same day, fresh offensives were launched: the Austrian IV and VII armies on the flank of the XI Army aiming for the Dniester River. By June 17, the defenders had pulled back on Lwow, the capital of Galicia, and on the 22nd Austria-Hungary's fourth largest city was recaptured. With this defeat, which meant that most of Galicia had returned to Austrian hands, the lines became stable in the south. The penetration advanced about 160 km at its deepest, reducing the Polish salient to about a third of its pre-war dimensions.
Trying to save Russian forces from suffering heavy casualties and gain time needed for the massive buildup of war industries at home, the Russian High Command decided to gradually withdraw from Galicia and the Polish salient to straighten out the frontline and started a strategic withdraw that has become known as The Great Retreat of 1915. Warsaw was evacuated and fell on August 4th to the new German 12th Army, at the end of the month Poland was entirely under Austro-German control, and 750,000 Russian prisoners had been captured.
Serbia and Bulgaria
The 122nd Fusileers of the 105th Division.
Chosen for the Serbian Campaign, the 105th Division again found itself in company with the 101st and 103rd Divisions and went into line on the Serbian front in October but did not stay there long. While the 122nd Fusileers pushed on in the south of this country, the 21st and the 129th entrained in December for Eastern Bulgaria.
The Austro-Hungarians and Germans began their invasion of Serbia on October 7th, with their troops crossing the Drina and Sava rivers, covered by substantial artillery support. Once they crossed the Danube, the Germans and Austro-Hungarians moved on the City of Belgrade itself. Vicious street fighting arose and the Serbs' opposition in the city finally crumpled on October 9th.
Then, on October 14th, the Bulgarian Army entered the war and attacked from the north of Bulgaria towards Nis and from the south towards Skopje. The Bulgarian 1st Army defeated the Serbian 2nd Army at the Battle of Morava, while the Bulgarian 2nd Army defeated the Serbians at the Battle of Ovche Pole. With the Bulgarian breakthrough, the Serbian situation became unsustainable; the main army in the north near Belgrade could either retreat, or be surrounded and forced to surrender. In the Battle of Kosovo the Serbs made a final and frantic attempt to join the two piecemeal Allied divisions that made a limited advance from the south, but were incapable of collecting enough troops because of the pressure from the north and east and were stopped by the Bulgarians and forced to retreat.
Marshal Putnik, commander of the Serbian Army, ordered a full evacuation, southwest through Montenegro into Albania. The weather was abysmal, the roads terrible, and the army had to assist tens of thousands of destitute civilian refugees who retreated with them. The weather and poor roads assisted the refugees as well, as the Central Powers forces could not hound them hard enough, and so they avoided capture. Many of the escaping soldiers and civilians did not make it to the coast, instead dying along the way. The conditions of the retreat were catastrophic, with only 155,000 Serbs, mostly soldiers, arriving at the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The survivors were so weak that thousands of them soon died from sheer fatigue in the weeks after their rescue. Marshal Putnik had to be carried during the whole withdrawal and died little more than a year later.
This was a nearly complete victory for the Central Powers at a cost of around 67,000 casualties compared to roughly 265,000 Serbian casualties. The railroad from Berlin to Istanbul would finally be open. The solitary blemish in the triumph was the extraordinary escape of the Serbian Army, which was virtually demoralized and had to be reassembled from nothing.
The Austro-Hungarians and Germans began their invasion of Serbia on October 7th, with their troops crossing the Drina and Sava rivers, covered by substantial artillery support. Once they crossed the Danube, the Germans and Austro-Hungarians moved on the City of Belgrade itself. Vicious street fighting arose and the Serbs' opposition in the city finally crumpled on October 9th.
Then, on October 14th, the Bulgarian Army entered the war and attacked from the north of Bulgaria towards Nis and from the south towards Skopje. The Bulgarian 1st Army defeated the Serbian 2nd Army at the Battle of Morava, while the Bulgarian 2nd Army defeated the Serbians at the Battle of Ovche Pole. With the Bulgarian breakthrough, the Serbian situation became unsustainable; the main army in the north near Belgrade could either retreat, or be surrounded and forced to surrender. In the Battle of Kosovo the Serbs made a final and frantic attempt to join the two piecemeal Allied divisions that made a limited advance from the south, but were incapable of collecting enough troops because of the pressure from the north and east and were stopped by the Bulgarians and forced to retreat.
Marshal Putnik, commander of the Serbian Army, ordered a full evacuation, southwest through Montenegro into Albania. The weather was abysmal, the roads terrible, and the army had to assist tens of thousands of destitute civilian refugees who retreated with them. The weather and poor roads assisted the refugees as well, as the Central Powers forces could not hound them hard enough, and so they avoided capture. Many of the escaping soldiers and civilians did not make it to the coast, instead dying along the way. The conditions of the retreat were catastrophic, with only 155,000 Serbs, mostly soldiers, arriving at the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The survivors were so weak that thousands of them soon died from sheer fatigue in the weeks after their rescue. Marshal Putnik had to be carried during the whole withdrawal and died little more than a year later.
This was a nearly complete victory for the Central Powers at a cost of around 67,000 casualties compared to roughly 265,000 Serbian casualties. The railroad from Berlin to Istanbul would finally be open. The solitary blemish in the triumph was the extraordinary escape of the Serbian Army, which was virtually demoralized and had to be reassembled from nothing.
Bulgaria
The Bulgarian Coast was nicer than being sent to Verdun!
Assigned to watch the Romanian frontier and the coast of the Black Sea, the 21st went to Varna and the 129th from Choumla to the coast. The regiments arrived in those locations in early December and would remain until May of 1916. They would essentially serve in garrison in a friendly country, watching the coast in case the Russians tried to land.