Imperial Germany's "Iron Regiment" of the First World War: War Memories of Service with IR 169 1914 - 1918

John K. Rieth

Oct 2014 · Badgley Publishing Company

About this ebook

Imperial Germany's "Iron Regiment" of the First World War offers a rare English-language account of a premier German infantry unit. Renowned as the "Iron Regiment" for its fighting record in the legendary 1916 Battle of the Somme, Infantry Regiment 169 was formed in Imperial Germany's State of Baden in 1897. The Regiment's service spanned from the war's first bloodshed at the Battle of Mulhouse in August 1914 and continued through its destruction at the hands of American Marines and Army tanks in the Meuse-Argonne Forest in November 1918. 

Absorbing severe losses, Infantry Regiment 169 fought in almost every portion of the Western Front, to include the Battle of Ypres in Flanders, 18 months of continuous combat in the trenches of the Somme, the bloody Aisne Campaign and the epic German offensives of 1918. 

Inspired by a wartime journal written by the author's grandfather, a veteran of the Regiment, much of the book is drawn from rare soldier accounts, many published here for the first time in English. The voice of these soldiers take us into the other side of the trenches and through the unimaginable horrors of the First World War. 

From the review of Colonel Gerald York, U.S. Army Retired.  Grandson of Sergeant Alvin C. York, Medal of Honor recipient in the Great War:

"An excellent writing looking at WW1 from a German soldiers perspective.  I have read many accounts of the US activities in the war to include my Grandfather's war diary detailing his observations.  This is a rare glimpse in to the same view from a German soldier and to look at the similarities of some of their comments, although on different sides of the conflict. My Grandfather, as mentioned in the book, was close to the same battle in the Meuse Argonne area.  It was very good reading and I highly recommend it to everyone interested in learning more about the Great War."

About the author

 The author, John K. Rieth, is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel with a lifelong interest in military history.   He is the author of Patton’s Forward Observers; The History of the 7th Field Artillery Observation Battalion and is a member of the Army Historical Foundation.