What is a Kriegsgefreiter?

[waldo von pepper]

What is the rank of Kriegsgefreiter? What is the difference between a Kriegsgefreiter and a Gefreiter?

[waldo von pepper]

Related to the above question, what does the rank abbreviation "Krgsfr" mean, as in, for example, "Krgsfr Hans Rabe"?

[Glenn2438]

Waldo,

the "Krgsfr" will stand for Kriegsfreiwilliger; a wartime volunteer.

Regards
Glenn

[waldo von pepper]

Glenn,

Thanks for your reply. While I have your attention the Deutsche Verlustlisten (Prussian) for infantry companies contain certain abbreviations that appear to be designations of rank. However I cannot find them listed in Imperial Army tables of rank:

“Wehrm”
“Horn”
“Res”

What do these abbreviations mean? Are they honorifics?

[Latze]

“Wehrm” = Wehrmann, a member of the Landwehr, normally a private (Gefreiter)
“Horn” = Hornist, a bugler or trumpeter
“Res” = Reservist, a member of the reserve forces

I think Kriegsgefreiter can have two meanings (I was unable to find anything definite):
1) The rank of Gefreiter was given for the duration of the war only; this might have been an administrative measure as a structure for temporary ranks as was available for officers was not in place for enlisted men. It would be an official designation then.
2) It is just a kind of honorific to denote that somebody was elevated to this lofty rank during war time...

[Ken S.]

My guess would be that there was never a "rank" of "Kriegsgefreiter". Interestingly, the majority of the few references to this term are in relation to Hitler; it would seem that these people are just compounding "Krieg" with "Gefreiter" to emphasize that he attained this rank during the war rather held the rank prior to it.

[Dave Danner]

Related to the above, does anyone know the reasons for some of these different terms for infantrymen?

Some are straightforward. A private in a Grenadier-Regiment is usually a Grenadier. A private in a Füsilier-Regiment or the Füsilier battalion of a regular infantry regiment is usually a Füsilier. An active private in a regular infantry regiment is typically a Musketier (or is that the case only in specific regiments?). The Bavarian Army also used Infanterist.

But for all the wartime volunteers and soldiers of the Beurlaubtenstand, the terms are all over the place, even within the same unit. They include:

Reservist
Ersatz-Reservist
Ersatz-Rekrut
Landsturm-Rekrut
Landsturmmann
Landwehrmann
Wehrmann
Wehrmann der Landwehr

I've also seen Gemeiner, although usually not in the infantry (such as Gemeiner (Fahrer) der Landwehr). And also, as mentioned above, Kriegsfreiwilliger, although that can also be a prefix for a higher rank such as Kriegsfreiwilliger-Gefreiter.

Thanks

[Ken S.]

I think there's a description of what an Ersatz-Reservist was in Regiment greift an! by Fritz Engelbrecht, but I'm not sure where my copy has gone.

[waldo von pepper]

for Dave Danner:

"Reservist
Ersatz-Reservist
Ersatz-Rekrut
Landsturm-Rekrut
Landsturmmann
Landwehrmann
Wehrmann
Wehrmann der Landwehr"


Were these all privates? On promotion would they become "Gefreiter"?

waldo

[Dave Danner]

for Dave Danner:

"Reservist
Ersatz-Reservist
Ersatz-Rekrut
Landsturm-Rekrut
Landsturmmann
Landwehrmann
Wehrmann
Wehrmann der Landwehr"


Were these all privates? On promotion would they become "Gefreiter"?

waldo

Yes, these were all privates. And yes, a Gemeiner (common soldier) would normally be promoted to Gefreiter.

I am looking specifically at the infantry. Other branches don't seem as diverse. I have seen Kanonier, Kanonier der Reserve and Kanonier der Landwehr, for example, but not "Ersatz-Kanonier" or the like.

[Sheldrake]

Some of these terms describe the route that the soldier followed to join the army,the extent of peacetime training and age at the start of the war. .


This is quite a big subject and covered by the wartime handbooks on the German army
http://ww1.allneedsall.com/ebook/130-ge ... n-war.html

[joerookery]

Dave,

Have you looked at the rank listing in appendix C starting on page 441 of The Great War Dawning? This might have part of your answer.

The following ranks all equate to a soldier in the rank of private:

Chevauleger Private in Bavarian Chevauxleger regiment (also quite often spelled: Chevauleger)
Dragoner Private in dragoon regiment-less No.3
Ersatz-Reservist Soldier normally a private belonging to the Ersatz-Reserve
Fahrender Artillerist Mounted private in Bavarian field artillery
Fahrer Driver in general or a private in Saxon mounted field artillery or draft-horse detachments of the foot artillery.
Füsilier Private in any füsilier regiment or III battalion Guard Regiment zu Fuss 1-5 or Garde- Grenadier Regiment 1-5, IR115, students in Prus-sian or Württemberg Unteroffiziers- vorschule
Gardist Private in Prussian Guard formation, in battalion I or II IR 115 or Saxon Guard Reiter Regiment

Gemeiner or Traingemeiner Privates in train units with long (Saxon 3yr.) active requirements
Grenadier Private in any grenadier regiment or battalion, I or II Guard Regi-ment zu Fuss 1-5 or Garde- Grenadier Regiment 1-5, or Grenadier Regiments 1-12, or Regiments 89,100,101,109,110,119,123.
Garde-Füsilier Private in Guard-Füsilier Regiment
Grenadier zu Pferd Private in Grenadier Regiment zu Pferd No.3
Hornist/Hoboist Trumpeter
Husar Private in hussar regiment
Infanterist Private in a Bavarian infantry regiment
Jäger Private in Jäger battalion
Jäger zu Pferd Private in Jäger zu Pferd regiment-less No. 1
Kanonier Private in foot artillery or Prussian field artillery or the dismounted members in Bavarian and Saxon field artillery units
Karabinier Private in Saxon Karabinier regiment
Königsjäger Private in Jäger zu Pferd regiment No. 1
Kriegsfreiwilliger Wartime Volunteer
Kürassier Private in Kürassier regiment
Landsturmmann Soldier normally a private belonging to the Landsturm
Musketier Private in Prussian or Württemberg infantry Regiments
Pionier Private in sapper/engineer battalion, technical troops
Reiter Private in Bavarian Schwere Reiter Regiment
Reservist Soldier, normally a private, belonging to the reserves
Schütze IR 108, Garde-Schützen Bataillon, private in the machine gun and bicycle companies
Soldat Private in Saxon infantry battalion
Tambour Drummer
Trainsoldat Private in train units from Prussia, Württemberg, and Saxony with short (1 yr.) active requirements, and all privates from Bavaria.
Ulan Private in Ulan regiment
Unteroffiziersvorschüler Private in Saxon or Bavarian Unteroffiziersvorschulen
Wehrmann Soldier normally a private belonging to the Landwehr

It is a little bit more convoluted for instance I have a RJR254th helmet named to a Gardist as he came in through IR 115.

[Sheldrake]

One of the nuances of the term "Gefreiter" in the German army is that a rank that might be translated as a senior soldier but with insufficient leadership potential to be trained as an NCO.

In the German army, unlike the British and US armies soldiers were specially trained to be an NCO, and not simply appointed out of seniority or on merit by commanders. There were ways to fast track a soldier to become an NCO or an Officer, such as joining as a "Kriegsfreiwilliger", which required the soldier to serve at their own expense, as a military intern at the end of which the volunteer might be commissioned as an officer in the reserve. ,paying for is one of these.

Hitler's rank of Gefreiter indicated a man seen as sufficiently lacking leadership - ("Führung"), for promotion to full corporal despite four years of war service.

[Ken S.]

I believe you're referring to the Einjährig-Freiwilliger; the Kriegsfreiwilliger was simply someone who volunteered during the war.

[Sheldrake]

I believe you're referring to the Einjährig-Freiwilliger; the Kriegsfreiwilliger was simply someone who volunteered during the war.

I stand corrected. I was so taken by the "Internship " idea that I failed to apply common sense. The significance of the Kriegsfreiwilliger is that were either younger than the called up year or had been assigned untrained to the landsturm and had no obligation to serve. These are the mass enlistments of 1914-15 and form the un-anticipatedly strong German armies in Flanders in late 1914 - including the young Adolf, who must fall into this catetegory.