A Brief History of the 8.Kürassier in Four Parts. Part IV. 3. Feldeskadron (July 1916 – Nov. 1918) On 15 July 1916, the Halbregiment was disbanded and the 3. Feldeskadron remained under the command of the 113. Inf. Div. Due to the increasing shortage of horses and the facilities to care for them, one cavalry squadron now supported one infantry division. The division and the 3. Feldeskadron, as its divisional cavalry, participated in numerous battles on the Western Front during the last 2+ years of the war. Squadron duties varied tremendously, but they included: providing dispatch riders, field work, guard duty, signal corps work and divisional observation work. Also, detachments of officers and men continued to serve other units in the division. Most notable, Rittmeister Freiherr von Thielmann, the squadron’s CO, served as battalion CO of I./Res. Inf. Regt. 32 during a portion of the Chemin des Dames battle in June – Sept. 1917. The regimental history also states that the men were trained on the use of machine guns during that same period. Unfortunately, the squadron’s activities during this last phase are also the least documented; taking up only 7 pages of the 200+ pages in the regimental history. A total of 17 officers and 144 men are listed in the Roll of Honor, and these include those who fell serving in other units.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:24:18 +0000
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