I recently found a picture of my great grandfather in a German WWI Uniform. The collar insignia identifies him as a member of the 21st Army Corp's 16th Landsturm Infantry Battalion. (XXI.16 – 7.Landsturm-Infanterie-Bataillon Saarbrücken) which obviously raises a lot of questions.
Especially with regard to the role of the Landsturm as some sort of reserve when there's also "regular" reserve units and the Landwehr. What is the difference between those 3?
And regarding the Landsturm, how were these battalions attached to the regular standing troops? As part of a regiment/brigade/division?
What where Landsturm soldiers typically used for, considering they're mostly older men? And how where they equipped in comparison to the professional army?
Last but not least what would be the best course of action to find out more about my great grandfathers journey during WWI?
Sorry for all these questions but it seems that I have quite the interesting matter in front of me and I'm just trying to get any information to get me started. So any input is appreciated, thanks in advance!
All the following is taken from The Kaiser's Army by David Stone, accepting that any misunderstandings are mine.
Military service was basically a progression through various military tiers, being a function of age, prior military service and terms of service. But the pre-war rules for service liability (which I'll detail for context) were suspended as a wartime expediency in order to maintain the fighting strength of the active army. Once the war was underway, the pre-war rules only really applied to those incapacitated by sickness or wounds.
There was a military service obligation between the ages of 17 and 45. Pre-war, military service broadly followed a progression based on age. As early as 17, but more often from 18, young men would get their first introduction to military service with 2-3 years in the Landsturm (also manned by older, experienced, soldiers as we'll see). From 20-22, they moved to the active "regular" army for a 2 year stint. From there they moved to the Reserves for 4-5 years. The Reserve's role was to supplement the army on mobilisation. From the Reserves the older soldiers would serve 5 years in the first tier of the Landwehr, aged 27-35, and the second tier also for 5 years aged 33-38. In both the Reserves and first tier Landwehr they would have annual two-week refresher courses. Eventually, their final military service would be aged 39-45 in the Landsturm, meeting their younger selves starting their military service. Landsturm troops were engaged as garrison troops, POW guards, coastal defence, training units and as line of communication security.
In addition to the above, in pre-war times the available conscription exceeded the requirements of the peacetime army and navy. Some men, therefore, would be directed to the Ersatz-Reserve (where ersatz meant replacement) for a 12 year period. This functioned as a sort of reserve-reserve, where men who were physically suitable for military service but who had been exempted for family or business or economic reasons, or conceivably minor physical disabilities. After the 12 years' Ersatz-Reserve, the men would move to the second tier of the Landwehr if they had had regular training stints, or to the Landsturm if not.
Complicated? I've skipped Ersatz units and Landwehr-Ersatz because I can't find much detail, other than to say they fed into the active army and Landwehr respectively.
Once the war was underway, the massive casualties meant that this organised progression ceased. Broadly speaking the conscripts had their military service start sooner and with briefer training, and the older soldiers might be re-deployed to active regiments. Also, those who had previously had exemptions would be re-assessed.
Finally, a few more numbers. In 1914 supplementing the active army were 113 Reserve regiments, 96 Landwehr, 86 Ersatz and 21 Landwehr-Ersatz. In 1918 there were 40 Reserve divisions, 30 Landwehr and 5 Ersatz.
Apologies for not answering some of your points and answering unasked ones. The book is about 450 pages excluding the index and is a good read. I can happily recommend it.